Can You Forgive Me My Lies?
by BrookePeytonHaleyBFF's
Summary: Brooke and Lucas are engaged and everything is going perfectly for them until someone from the past comes back! How will Lucas react when he finds out that she has been hiding a huge secret from him for years? Will they make it in the end? My 1st Fanfic!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Brooke and Lucas are engaged and everything is going perfectly for them until someone from the past comes back! How will Lucas react when he finds out that the woman he is planning on spending the rest of his life with has been hiding a huge secret from him for years? This is mostly AU everything that happened up until Season 3 happened! The school shooting happened but Dan didn't kill Keith and Jimmy was sent to a psychiatric hospital for help. But nothing else in Season 3 happened the school shooting is the only thing that happened. Most everything will be explained in flashbacks! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!**

**Parts in Italics are the people's thoughts. I think it's pretty self explanatory but if you have any questions or get confused just let me know!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. Nada Zip Zilch….**

Brooke is sitting at the kitchen table in the house that she shares with her fiancé Lucas talking on the phone. "No we can't discuss that right now!" she says at almost a whisper. She hears the other person respond loudly "Why the hell not Brooke? We need to discuss this now. Hell we should have discussed this three years ago!" Brooke sighs and shakes her head and that's when she notices that Lucas is walking towards her. "Listen I have to go but we will finish this later." she says slamming the phone shut.

Lucas walks up behind and puts his hands on her shoulders "Hey Pretty Girl who was that?" he asks leaning down to kiss the top of her head. She turns and pastes on a fake smile "Oh it was just someone from the office wanting to question my every move. You know how Victoria is she is always having people spy on me." she is thankful when Lucas seems to buy this story. He just nods and walks over to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup.

After he rejoins her at the table he takes her hand "Brooke talk to me what's really going on with you?" he asks noticing the panic in her eyes but it quickly disappears and determination replaces it. She smiles at him and shakes her head slightly "Luke honey I'm fine I promise. I just have a lot on my mind that's all." she says waving away his fears.

He studies her for a few minutes and decides that maybe she is ok and that maybe she is just worried about her new line. He hopes that she isn't having second thoughts about marrying him. They have had a rocky last couple of years and he is actually surprised that she has put up with him for as long as she has. He thinks back to when all of their trouble started.

_Brooke has just walked into his bedroom looking very angry and instantly he is wondering what he has done. "How dare you Lucas Scott?" she says glaring at him. Lucas honestly has no idea why she is so angry at him but he just knows that she is very angry. She walks over to him and shoves him hard "How dare you sleep with someone else? I thought you loved me?" she says breaking down into tears._

_As the realization dawns on him, he knows that she knows what he did and he instantly looks guilty "I didn't think you knew about that." he says weakly but he would have been better off not saying anything at all. She glares at him "That's all you have to say? I can't believe this Lucas, how many times did you screw her? God I can't do this anymore." she says turning to walk away._

_He grabs her to stop her "Brooke it was one time and I didn't mean for it to happen. Please you have to believe me I love you with all of my heart, I'm in love with you and only you. She was hurting and it was stupid ok? But it was just one time it was just one weak moment. I'm so sorry." he says as he begins to cry his own tears. She just shakes her head and walks out._

Snapping out of his memories he shakes his head "You're happy right Brooke?" he asks. She snaps her head up to look at him with shock and surprise in her eyes "Of course I'm happy Lucas why wouldn't I be? I love you with all of my heart and I always will." she says unsure of why he would ask her that question. He just nods his head and gets up from the table and walks away.

A few hours later Brooke is sitting on their bed going through some old pictures of when they were in high school when she comes across an older photo. Lucas walks up behind her and looks over her shoulder "You miss her don't you?" he asks quietly. Brooke just nods her head and he can tell that she is crying just looking at the old photograph.

Brooke sits there staring at the picture in her hand and thinks about the people in it. She remembers that those two people used to be fearless and she misses that time of her life. She misses her best friend more than anything, she just wishes she could hug her one last time and tell her that she loves her and that she's sorry for everything. Lucas sits down beside her and wraps his arm around her. He sighs "Do you want to go visit her?" he asks gently. Brooke just nods her head.

They make the short drive across town and walk towards where she is. When they reach their destination Lucas walks away giving Brooke some time alone with her old friend. Brooke looks down at the tombstone and begins to cry loud sobbing cries. The tombstone reads:

_Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer_

_1988-2006_

'_You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings'_

Brooke drops down to her knees "Oh God can you ever forgive me for what I've done? I don't know how I'm supposed to go on like this anymore! I need you Peyton and I'm not sure how to get through this without you. It's been three years and I miss you more and more every day! I need you here Peyton, I need you to be there for me on my wedding day and when my babies are born. God I, I just need you so badly. Know that I will always love you no matter what. I love you P. Sawyer." she places the single Lily on Peyton's grave and walks over to where Lucas is waiting for her.

Lucas looks at her and can tell that she isn't holding up too well. He knows that he should get her home but he wants to talk to Peyton too. He feels that he at least owes her that because of the way he treated her just before the accident. "Can I talk to her for a minute?" he asks not wanting to upset Brooke anymore then she already is. Brooke just nods knowing that Lucas still feels as guilty about the accident as she does.

He slowly makes his way over to the place Brooke just left. He kneels down and places his hand on the tombstone "Hey Blondie you know this place isn't the same without you here. I'm so sorry for the things I said to you right before the accident I never meant to hurt you. Please believe that and I promise you that I will take care of Brooke the way you would want me to. I just hope that you and our daughter are looking down on us from up there and that you both forgive me. I miss you Peyton you were one hell of a friend." he stops talking to try to compose himself.

While he is talking to Peyton, Brooke's cell phone rings and when she sees whose calling she doesn't want to answer it but she knows that if she doesn't answer the call the person will just keep calling "Hello!" she says quietly. "We need to talk about his Brooke. I can't keep doing this or keeping this secret. Lucas needs to know the truth and he needs to know the truth now." the other person says.

Brooke sighs "I can't do this right now we are at the cemetery. I'll call you later." the other person growls in anger "Fine but we will talk about this soon. But just know that either you tell Lucas soon or I'll tell him myself." Brooke just stands there looking horrified. _Lucas can't know or this will ruin everything. I've got to find a way to stop this before it gets out of hand._ She thinks to herself as she looks up to see Lucas walking towards her and she tries to plaster on her best fake smile and prays like hell that he doesn't find out the truth.

**Should I continue? If I do should the chapters be longer or the length they are now?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews! I hope that you like this chapter!**

**Again Italics are thoughts or memories!**

A few days after they visit Peyton in the cemetery Lucas finds himself back there at the very same tombstone. It's the anniversary of when Peyton died and Lucas hasn't been able to get her or the baby out of his head all day. He sits down in front of the tombstone and just stares at it for a few minutes. He runs his hands through his hair "God Peyton, Brooke and I are getting married in a few months and you should be here for that. She needs her best friend standing beside her and our daughter should be here to be the flower girl. It's been three years today Peyton since we lost the both of you and I'm not sure how Brooke or I either one will ever truly be able to get over losing the two of you." he cries out.

He looks around and notices that the graveyard is extremely deserted for this time of day and wonders if it is because of the cold, bitter weather. For the middle of March it is extremely cold and frigid and that makes Lucas think back to the night everything changed.

_Not long after Brooke stormed out of Lucas's house she returns with Peyton. Brooke looks angry while Peyton looks guilty. That's when Lucas knows that Brooke knows that he and Peyton had sex. He silently curses himself for letting things go this far, he knows that he never should have done what he did with Peyton. "Hey guys." he says trying to act casual._

_Brooke shoots him an icy glare "Peyton has something that she needs to tell you." Brooke turns to Peyton who has tears running down her face. Brooke waits patiently for Peyton to confess but Peyton just stands there looking sad and upset. Lucas knows that all of this stress isn't good on Peyton's baby and he wonders what's so damn important that Brooke has to put Peyton and the baby through this._

_Brooke lets out an exaggerated breath "Well are you going to tell him the truth or do I have to do it?" she asks Peyton hatefully. Peyton just shakes her head and then looks Lucas in the eyes "Luke I'm so sorry. It's about the baby, she's, she's yours Luke. Jake isn't her father you are." she says breaking down in loud sobs._

_Lucas just stands there not believing a word that Peyton has just said to him. "I can't believe this Peyton!" he yells. "I can't believe that you would keep this from me for so long. God how could you be so stupid?" she flinches at his words and Brooke seems satisfied._

_As Brooke watches Lucas get angry she feels vindicated in a way. Lucas cheated on her with someone who was supposed to be her best friend for the second time and it resulted in Peyton being pregnant. She doesn't feel a bit sorry for Peyton because Peyton is the one who chose to lie about who her baby's father was. She is so angry at them both that she is actually slightly happy at both of their misery. Hey misery loves company she thinks to herself smiling a little._

_Peyton covers her face with her hands "I'm sorry Luke but I thought it would be easier this way. If you didn't know she was your then you life wouldn't be ruined along with mine. You could still be with Brooke and I would be raising this baby by myself. You could have been happy Lucas that's all I wanted for you." Brooke looks confused "What do you mean you would have been raising the baby by yourself?" she asks._

_Peyton just looks at her sadly "Jake said he had enough to deal with by raising Jenny, he couldn't handle another baby right now. I will be raising her on my own without anyone's help." she says as the tears begin to fall again. Brooke's face changes from anger to sadness. She never knew that Jake didn't want the baby, she just assumed that he would be fine with it. Now her protective instincts kick in and she wants to beat his ass for how he treated Peyton. But then the reality hits Brooke and she remembers why they are here in the first place._

_Brooke just glares at her "Sucks to be you, guess you really will be on your own now won't you. Since you've completely ruined our friendship now and you have nobody." she says with a smirk causing even more pain to cross Peyton's face. Lucas watches the interaction between the two girls and he grows angrier with Peyton. How could she even consider letting another man raise his daughter._

_He shakes his head staring at her "How could you even consider letting Jake raise my daughter? You know what I can't deal with you right now!" he yells "Just leave because right now it's making me sick to even look at you. All I want to do is hate you for what you've done." Lucas and Brooke watch as Peyton turns around and runs away getting into her car and driving off before either of them think to stop her._

_Brooke looks at Lucas "I can't believe this." she says almost in a whisper. Lucas walks over to her and tries to take her in his arms but she pushes him away "Don't! Don't think that you will just turn on your charm and I'll forgive you. You slept with her behind my back Lucas and you got her pregnant. God I can't do this." she says turning to walk away from him for the second time that night._

Lucas looks down at the inscription on Peyton's tombstone "You know I didn't mean what I said that night Peyton. I was angry and hurting but I never hated you. I should have tried to stop you and then maybe you would both still be here. I'm so sorry Peyton, I'm so sorry to both of you." he hears footsteps behind him and turns to find Brooke standing behind him.

"Hi!" she says sadly "Hi!" he responds. She walks over to sit down beside him "I figured you would be here today. I can't believe she's been gone three years already. I miss her." she says the tears forming in her eyes. "I wonder what the baby would have looked like." Lucas says thinking out loud.

Brooke just looks at him and smiles "She would have been beautiful just like both her parents." she says the tears finally falling from her eyes "She would have had curly blonde hair and your beautiful blue eyes. She would have had Peyton's attitude and your broodiness. I of course would have taught her all about fashion and she would have been perfect." she breaks down completely now and Lucas takes her in his arms "I'm so sorry Luke this is all my fault. If I hadn't made Peyton tell you the truth that night they would still be here. My best friend would still be here with me I need her Lucas, I can't do this without her. God I know we fought mostly over you and trust me I know that if Peyton was still alive that you and I probably wouldn't be together. But I've learned to live with that." she says sadly.

Lucas looks at her and she can see the anger in his eyes "Don't say that Brooke. I love you and I believe that we would be together no matter what." she just nods her head weakly not believing anything he has just said to her. "I know." she says to satisfy him "I'm just feeling guilty for them being gone."

He sits there at Peyton's grave holding Brooke for several hours in the could, they reminisce back to a time when Peyton was alive and they were all three happy together as friends. Brooke remembers holding Peyton as the blonde mourned the loss of her mom. They agree it's time for them to head home because they are both getting cold but Lucas stops in front of Anna's grave "Mrs. Sawyer I know that you are with Peyton and our daughter and I hope that you are taking care of them for us. Tell them that we love them both and we always will." Brooke smiles up at him as they walk towards Brooke's car.

Later that night Brooke is sitting in the living room while Lucas takes a shower when her phone rings. She answers it without looking at the caller id and as soon as she answers she curses herself for not looking first. "Brooke have you told him yet?" the person asks. Brooke sighs "No I haven't because we've both had a lot to deal with the last few days. He always has a hard time every year on this day, you know that." she whispers.

The other person lets out a huff "I can't believe this Brooke, you were supposed to have told him two months ago. I can't keep this to myself anymore it's getting too hard to hide this big of a secret. He needs to know and he needs to know now." the person yells causing Brooke to cringe "This is ruining my life Brooke, it's not fair to me anymore. You promised that you would tell him when the time came and the time is now."

Brooke runs her hands through her hair "Look we will meet Saturday. Lucas is supposed to fly to New York to meet with his editor about his book so he'll be out of town. We can try to figure something out but right now I don't think it's wise to tell him. Give it a few more weeks and let him get back to his normal self." she pleads. "Fine!" the other person says slamming the phone shut.

Brooke shuts her phone and tries to go back to the sketches she's working on for her new line. She doesn't realize that Lucas has finished with his shower and has heard every word she has just said.

Lucas quietly walks to their bedroom and sits down on the bed wondering what Brooke is hiding from him and who she is meeting on Saturday. He grabs his phone and dials his editors number "Hey, I'm not going to make it up on Saturday I've come down with the flu." he says as soon as his editor answers the phone. He tries to make it sound as convincing as he can. He hears a sigh "Alright Luke I hope you get to feeling better soon. Um can you try to come up next weekend? Because we really need to get this finished so we can get your book off for production." Lindsey says sweetly.

Lucas makes arrangements to go to New York the following weekend to finish his book stuff. But this weekend he plans on following Brooke to wherever it is that she plans on going. He wants to know exactly what she is hiding from him.

In Charleston, SC the person who was talking to Brooke slams his phone on the table causing the woman sitting beside him to jump. "You know you really need to calm down this isn't helping anything. She's not going to tell him until she's ready and you know that." he glares at her "But Lucas needs to know, he should have already been told." she just nods her head in agreement. _I agree Lucas shouldn't have been kept from this kind of secret for as long as he has been. I feel so sorry for him he is going to be so hurt when he finds out that they have been keeping this from him._ She shakes her head and looks away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all of your reviews...I have to give all the credit for this chapter to HJS-NS-23 and LPfan4Ever...Kelly and Heather wrote the entire chapter...So thank you both so much...**

**I've gotten some PM's from concerned Brucas fans wondering why a Leyton fan is helping me with this story...All I'm going to say is that she is an excellent writer and I value her help...She is in no way shape or form trying to change my mind and make me write something that I don't want to write...Yes Heather and Kelly both wrote this chapter but it isn't a Leyton chapter it's a chapter that explains how Peyton died and I wasn't sure I would be able to write that on my own...They just kinda took over and wrote it for me which really helps me to move forward and on to the next chapter...**

The morning after Lucas heard Brooke talking about meeting someone he decided to go visit Peyton again. He couldn't help but think that somehow whatever it is Brooke is hiding from him is connected to Peyton and their daughter. He is shocked to find Brooke sitting in front of the tombstone. He tries to walk as silently as he can up to her, he knows that it's wrong but he's hoping maybe if he can hear what she is saying then he will find out what Brooke is hiding.

"God Peyton what am I going to do? He has to know but how am I supposed to break this to him?" he hears Brooke saying through her tears. He quickly hides behind a tree to try to listen to more of what she is saying. "I love you P. Sawyer and I miss you." she says regretfully before she gets up and walks towards her car. Lucas sighs as he watches her walk away.

After he sees that she is in her car and driving away he slowly walks to Peyton's grave. "Hey Blondie, I don't know what's going on with Brooke do you think you can help me out? I need to know what's going on with her. What is she hiding?" he asks out loud knowing that Peyton can't answer him. The tears blur his vision as he thinks back to that night "If you were here things would be so much different. I know Brooke still blames herself for what happened. God Peyton we need you right now. What happened that night Peyton?" he asks. Unknown to Lucas someone else in another state is replaying that night in their heads as well.

"I remember that night, the night it happened. I heard the sirens and saw the ambulance rushing towards the Molina Bridge." the woman says looking at him. "I was so afraid of what was happening. I was praying that it wasn't anyone I knew, but as it turns out it was and that made me run again. I just couldn't handle anything else right then." she adds. He looks at her shocked.

"I didn't even know you were back in town that night. Why didn't you say anything to me?" he asks shocked. She sighs and runs her hand lazily through her hair "I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to you after all of that time. Then I found out about the accident and the next thing I knew you were gone." she says looking at him sadly.

They are startled when the other person walks in the room "Yeah I remember that night too. A little too well." the person says as their brown eyes meet the other's in the room.

_Peyton ran out of the house and to her beloved Comet, barely feeling the chill air or the rain pounding down around her. Her tears mixed with the rain, harshly wiping them from her face she opened the drivers door and got in, her body shivering from the cold, anger and pain that had just been inflicted on her. She couldn't believe Brooke could be that cruel. She should've figured that the brunette wouldn't want to help after finding out it was Lucas' baby._

_As much as she regretted sleeping with Lucas when he was with Brooke she couldn't stop the way she felt about him or regret their child nestled safely in her womb. Her shaky hand inserted the keys in the ignition, her music blaring through the car as she drove, trying to leave all the troubles behind her._

_The road was slick and the rain seemed to be coming down harder, but it was nothing she hadn't dealt with before. Her tears continued cascading down her cheeks as she thought about the hate burning for her in Lucas' crystal blue eyes._

_Stupid me She thought the anger directed at herself. I should have never told Brooke the baby wasn't Jakes...But he has a right to know she reprimanded herself. But now he hates me she reminded herself. The internal debate going on in her head and the way Brooke looked at her the anger etched cruelly in her hazel eyes and the betrayal reflected in Lucas' eyes tore her heart. Gasping for breath she tried to calm herself down. This isn't healthy for the baby she reminded herself, slowing her breathing and trying to focus on the road._

_She saw the Molina bridge up ahead and her heart clenched when she remembered sitting next to Brooke there after her mom died. She remembered all of the time she and Brooke would go to the bridge when one of them was feeling sad. Shaking her head and trying to get rid of the thoughts about Brooke and Lucas she focused on the baby. _

_Her little girl. Peyton had high hopes for her little girl. She could just imagine her. She hoped the little girl would have her blonde curls and Lucas' baby blue eyes. She hoped that their daughter would have Lucas' love of literature and her love of art and music. _

_As she was lost in thought Peyton felt the back tires slide, reminding her she was driving in this rainy weather. The bridge was slicker than the roads and Peyton gripped the steering wheel tighter, a gnawing in her stomach warning her that something bad was going to happen soon._

_All of a sudden La Rocca filled the comet and Peyton felt the tears fill her eyes as her mind drifted back to Lucas. No matter what happened she knew she would always love him, even if he thought she was mistake, or their daughter was a mistake. The back tires hit the wet pavement and spun fishtailing the car. Peyton jerked the wheel to the left and swerved, the wheels hitting the slick pavement and she lost control of the wheel, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the wheel, stomping her foot on the break but nothing stopping it as the car swerved on the bridge the last thing she saw was the railing of the bridge as her right hand layed on her stomach trying to save her daughter as her head slammed against the steering wheel from the impact of hitting the railing, the car flew over the bridge and into the murky water the rain continuing to splatter down on the river as the comet sunk._

_A black SUV that had been following Peyton saw the accident and stopped just before reaching the bridge and watched the car sinking, a hand reached for their cell phone dialing 911. Getting out of the car the stranger ran to the railing and dived into the water. Seeing a silhouette jump into the water the driver knowing the black car from anywhere threw it into park, nearly sliding into a ditch and ran to the bridge and jumped down so he could assist._

Lucas runs his hands through his hair "I just wish I knew what happened that night Peyt. I just wish you and our daughter were here." he sighs and looks around "I love Brooke with all of my heart, I do. It's just I feel like a major part of me died that night along side you and our daughter." he shakes his head "If I didn't have Brooke I don't know what I would have done. I'm so sorry that I told you I hated you, Peyt I could never hate you." he says as the tears run down his face.

His heart clenched as he remembered her green eyes visibly upset when he told her he hated her. He was just so angry then he didn't really mean what he said. He just didn't know how she could keep something like that from him for so long. He had just found out that he was going to be a father before he turned eighteen years old. But that wasn't the part that bothered him. It was the fact that Peyton had kept it from him, that she let him believe it was Jake's child.

He hears footsteps behind him and turns around quickly to see who it is. He's relieved to find Keith standing behind him. Keith sighs seeing the boy he raised as his own sitting there with his heart visibly breaking. "Luke I know you're hurting but at some point you're going to have to move on. Peyton knows you didn't mean what you said, she knows that you love her and that you miss her." Lucas just looks at him and shakes his head.

Lucas just stares into Keith's eyes "How can she possibly know that Keith? I told her I hated her! I caused this, Peyton and our baby are both dead because of me. If only I would have reacted differently, if I would have taken the time to just listen to her." he sighs and shakes his head looking away "None of this would have happened and she would still be here. My daughter would still be here." he yells.

"Lucas you can't know that for sure. You can't blame yourself son" Keith said soothingly. "You don't know that they would still both be here. That's the thing about life, you never know exactly how long you're going to have with someone. So you just have to learn to live as if there is no tomorrow." Keith tells him pulling the younger boy into a hug. Lucas just cries on his shoulder.

Lucas shook his head. _It's my fault_ he tells himself knowing if he wouldn't of told Peyton he hated her he would be holding their daughters hand and teaching her all different things and reading The Great Gatsby to her.

Lucas is sitting there again recalling the night that everything changed.

_Brooke is lying in her bed staring at the ceiling. She keeps replaying the events of the night back in her head. Was she too hard on Peyton? She wonders to herself. She was just angry that her best friend kept that kind of secret from her for all those months. How could Peyton do that to her? How could she do that to Lucas? Let him believe that her child was Jake's baby._

_Brooke doesn't know what to think anymore. She and Peyton have gotten through so much together and she really didn't want to lose her friend again. She sighs as she gets up off her bed to grab her cell phone. She decides she needs to talk to Peyton and confront her about why she didn't tell anyone the truth. Just as she is getting ready to walk to her car she sees the police rush past. Brooke doesn't know what has happened but as the ambulance trails right behind the police she knows that it can't be good._

_As Brooke gets into her car her phone rings and she sees Nathan's name flash across the screen. She answers it instantly her gut telling her something is wrong. "Hello?" she says quickly. She just hears breathing in the phone for several seconds "Nathan what's going on?" she asks getting concerned. Again all she hears is breathing "Nathan I swear to you if this is some kind of joke I'm going to kick your ass." she yells into the phone as she grows even more concerned._

_She hears a sigh then "Brooke, Peyton's car just went off the Molina Bridge and it doesn't look good." he says sadly. Brooke's blood freezes and her whole body goes numb. 'No this can't be happening.' she thinks to herself 'I can't lose her she has to be alright.' _

_Brooke tries to compose herself but it doesn't work. "Wh-What happened?" she chokes out. Nathan sighs "I don't know Brooke all I know is that her car went off the bridge and her body is missing. But it doesn't look good, the police think maybe her body got washed down river. They say they may never find her if that is the case." he says and she can hear the tears in his voice._

"_They've sent a search and rescue team down looking for her body, but they still haven't found anything." he says chocking on his sobs "They've looked for the last hour Brooke and still they haven't found anything." he hears Brooke let out a sob and his heart breaks even more knowing the pain she is going through "She's gone Brooke." he says simply._

_Brooke shakes her head vehemently "No she isn't." Brooke rasps out her voice weaker than she wishes. She cant be! Instantly her mind goes to Lucas and that she needs to tell him what happened. "Lucas, I've got to tell Lucas." she whispers so low that Nathan can barely hear her. She slams the phone shut before Nathan can say another word. Somehow she blindly manages to drive herself to Lucas's house._

_Lucas is sitting on his bed trying to come to term that Peyton is carrying his baby. It just can't seem to sink in. A part of him is ecstatic, him and Peyton created this little life together, but at the same time he's not even eighteen and he's going to have this little person to take care of and the responsibility to go along with. He wonders how disappointed his mom is going to be in him and how shes going to react to him telling her she's going to be a grandma again._

_He vividly remembers telling her about Brooke when they thought she was pregnant._

_*Flashback*_

_Karen is in the kitchen getting a drink when Lucas walks in. She turns a looks at him "Did I wake you?" she asks._ _He shakes his head slightly "No." he whispers._

_She smiles "Sometimes I can't sleep I just lie awake and worry." she says rubbing his arm. __He looks at her slightly confused "What are you worried about?" he asks._

_She lets out a small chuckle "I'm a mother, Lucas. I worry about everything." she glances at the clock and sees that it's really late "What are you doing up?" she asks._

_He looks at her and she can see the worry in his eyes. "There's something I have to tell you. You should sit." he says trying to mask the nervousness in his voice. _

_Karen shakes her head and looks at him with concern in her eyes. "Okay. I think I'll stand." she says hesitantly not prepared for what he is getting ready to tell her._

"_This is going to hurt you, mom. And I'm sorry." he says with tears in his eyes. Karen grows even more concerned "What happened?" she asks searching his face for answers._

_He looks at her in the eyes and she can see the fear set in them "Brooke's pregnant." he says hoarsely. _

_Before he can realize what's happening Karen slaps him across the face hard._

_*End Flashback*_

_He could still feel the sting of the slap on his cheek some days and how the disappointment his mother had for him washed over him in waves._

_Lost in his thoughts he barely registered the frantic knocking on his door. Walking to the door he saw a drenched Brooke before she hurled her body on him. His arms instantly coming and wrapping around her. He feels her body tremble and knows something is wrong._

_"Brooke what's wrong?" He asked concern lacing his voice. Brooke looks at him the tears falling down her cheeks. "Its Peyton." She rasps out. "Its bad Lucas, really bad" she chokes out before hugging him closer to her, needing his warmth._

_Lucas gulps the fear bubbling in his stomach. "Her car went off the bridge and they can't find her body" Brooke sobbed out not being able to meet Lucas' eyes her guilt eating her up inside._

_Lucas anguished eyes glance at the door. Please let them find her he prays needing Peyton and the baby to be okay. But his gut is telling him that she's gone. Peyton and the baby are gone and he will never forgive himself for that. He wouldn't of let his anger get in the way, Brooke wouldn't have lost her best friend and Peyton would be okay. And in a few more months he could be holding his little girl, rocking her to sleep._

_"I love you Lucas please don't ever leave me" Brooke begged. "I can't handle losing another person I love" he shakes his head "I wont Brooke. It's me and you now" Lucas told her. "I love you."_

_Lucas held onto her his face resting on top of her head as the two shed tears for the dead blonde._

Brooke is sitting on the couch when her phone rings she sighs when she sees the person's name flash across the screen "What?" she answers hatefully.

"I just want to make sure that you're still coming on Saturday." he asks.

Brooke rolls her eyes and rubs her temples with her free hand "Yes, I'll be there Saturday. Stop worrying."

He shakes his head "I have to worry because this has gone on too long. He needs to know Brooke. I should have never kept this kind of secret from him for so long. It isn't fair." he says sounding upset.

Brooke sighs "Look you're the one who decided to keep the truth from Lucas not me. So you're the one who's going to have to deal with it." she says getting pissed.

He grows angry "But I was going to tell him several months ago and you stopped me. Remember?" he asks fuming.

The tears well up in Brooke's eyes because she knows that her world as she currently knows it is about to come crashing down on her. "Look I'll be there Saturday and we'll figure it out then." she says as she quickly slams the phone shut.

Little does she know Lucas heard everything she just said and his curiosity has only peeked.


	4. AN: RIP Haley Sawyer

R.I.P Haley Elizabeth Sawyer 1984-2010

January 15, 2009 at 12:22 am, Haley Sawyer passed away due to a early labor and cardiac arrest.

For all those who knew her she was working on her first fanfic with the help of Heather and I. This story was like her baby. She was so excited to write it. In memory of Haley Sawyer Heather and I have decided to finish her story. Before she passed away Haley told us exactly what she had planned so we will keep to that. We give our condolences to Haley's family. There is more information in her profile about her passing and how to contact Heather and I if you want to express your condolences or share in our sadness and grief.

Thank you,

Kelly and Heather


	5. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who sent condolences for Haley and her family. As well as some very kind words for Kelly and I. I apologize that this chapter took so long but we've had a very difficult time writing it. Most of this chapter was written by Haley just before she passed away. We hope you enjoy it.**

**Heather & Kelly**

Saturday morning Lucas finishes packing his suitcase and then sits it beside the door. He walks over to Brooke and wraps her in his arms trying to keep her from figuring out something is wrong. _I'm going to figure out just what your hiding from me_ he thought making sure to mask his face as disappointment shown through his eyes at having to leave "I'm going to miss you." she says pouting. He can tell the pout is fake and she can't wait for him to leave so that she can leave.

He smiles at her "I'm going to miss you too." he says leaning down to kiss her. He pulls away, "I'll see you sooner then you think babe." he whispers kissing her again. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?" he asks.

Brooke shrugs, "I don't know I've got some paperwork I've got to do for the new line so probably just work on that." she answers smiling at him. He nods then kisses her one last time before walking out the door. He climbs in the vintage mustang that his uncle gave him after his baby sister was born.

Brooke waves goodbye as she watches him drive away. Lucas turns the corner and goes to a friends house and parks his car in the garage before grabbing the spare set of keys Mark had given him and pulled out his worn out red baseball cap and put it on before getting out and moving to the silver truck.

As soon as Brooke was sure Lucas was gone she grabbed her purse and small duffel from the linen closet and makes her way to her car.

Brooke gets in the car checking to make sure that nobody is following her. She doesn't see the silver truck follow her as she merges onto the highway heading towards South Carolina. Lucas makes sure to keep a safe distance from Brooke's aquamarine BMW converitble so that she doesn't notice anyone following her.

Brooke notices a sliver truck a few cars behind her that has been following her for the last half hour. She shrugs to herself 'Brooke you're just being paranoid. So what if another vehicle on the road is going the same way as you.' she says to herself as she turns up the radio smiling when she instantly recognizes the song. She remembers back to their senior of high school.

_Brooke, Peyton and Karen are standing around Tric talking when Deb comes up and grabs a bottle of alcohol and turns up the radio telling them she wants to dance. The four women dance around the bar to Son's Gonna Rise by Citizen Cope. _

Brooke smiles as she sings along to the song, but a tear falls from her eyes remembering how happy they all were to be dancing and just having fun. She wipes away the tear directing her attention back to the highway. Her mind flashes back to the last time she really talked to Peyton and that's when the tears begin to flow freely..

_Brooke walks into Peyton's bedroom to find the blonde laying on her bed sobbing. Brooke wasn't sure what happened, but she knows that it isn't good. She gently sits down beside Peyton "P. Sawyer what's wrong?" she asks concerned._

_Peyton looks up at her with a tear stained face and Brooke can see the pain in her eyes. Brooke starts getting really worried at this point "Peyton whatever it is you can talk to me. Is something wrong with the baby? Is it your dad?" she asks._

_Peyton just stares at her and shakes her head "My dad's fine Brooke and so is the baby." Peyton chokes out. Brooke looks at her not sure what else could be wrong "The baby isn't Jake's." Peyton whispers out deciding that it's better to just get it over with all at once._

_Brooke looks at her shocked 'If the baby isn't Jake's then whose is it? Peyton hasn't been with anyone else.' she thinks to herself. Peyton realizes what Brooke is thinking and starts sobbing harder "I'm so sorry Brooke I never meant for it to happen. It was just one time and it didn't mean anything." she sobs. Brooke looks at her not understanding what Peyton was trying to tell her. Peyton puts her head in her hands crying "It was right after the school shooting and we both needed comfort. I'm sorry Brooke, I'm so sorry." she says her whole body racking with sobs._

_In that instant realization it's Brooke and she knows that Lucas is the father of Peyton's baby. 'No this can't be happening. It can't be because they wouldn't do this to me twice.' she tells herself. But the look on Peyton's face confirms Brooke's fears. _

_Brooke starts violently shaking her head "No! I refuse to believe that the two of you would do that to me twice. How could you Peyton?" she asks in a disbelieving voice. Peyton sits up on the bed getting into a defensive position as if to protect her unborn daughter. Brooke shakes her head and rolls her eyes._

"_I didn't want this Brooke." Peyton cries "I was alone and wishing Jake would come back. It just happened. It didn't mean anything Brooke I swear." she says trying to convince herself more than Brooke that it didn't mean anything._

_Brooke rolls her eyes and Peyton can feel the tension in the room, she knows that Brooke is angry and Peyton really doesn't blame her. Brooke walks over to the closet where she had made a list on the doors of guys that belonged to each girl. She looks at the door for a minute just thinking trying to keep her emotions in check._

_Peyton sighs knowing that no matter what she says Brooke is still going to be angry, but she has to try anyway "Brooke we can just forget I told you this. Lucas doesn't have to know that the baby's his. He thinks that Jake is the father so why do we have to tell him? Please Brooke I didn't want any of this." she begs._

_Brooke calmly looks at Peyton taking a deep breath before saying anything "Peyton I'm only going to ask you this question once and I really don't want you to lie to me."__Peyton nods in agreement "Do you still have feelings for Lucas?" she chokes out. Peyton drops her head and remains silent giving Brooke all the answer she needs. She lets out a small nervous laugh._

_Peyton's eyes shoot up instantly "I can bury it Brooke I swear I can." she says crying harder now. Brooke looks at her and Peyton can see the fire in her eyes. Brooke slams her hand against the closet door causing Peyton to jump. "He's on the damn door Peyton. He's on the damn door under me. That means you don't go after him." she yells._

_Brooke crosses her arms and shakes her head before walking towards the bedroom door "As far as I'm concerned this friendship is over." she says angrily before walking out the door._

Brooke is brought out of her thoughts by the radio and the song that is playing it's the Spice Girls. Brooke remembers how her and Peyton used to dance to Wannabe, the thought brings another smile to her face as she brushes away the remaining tears. She starts singing along to the song "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is." she laughs to herself driving along the highway singing at the top of her lungs.

Lucas notices that Brooke seems to be dancing while she's driving and he can't help but smile at the sight. He shakes his head wondering what she is singing. He pulls the truck a little closer to Brooke's car to where he can hear what she is listening to, but far enough away that she wouldn't notice him. He rolls the passenger window down just a little and starts laughing out loud at the song she is listening to.. He shakes his head smiling.

Brooke thinks that if maybe she would have just listened to Peyton that night things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. She sighs as she realizes the exit she needs to take is just up ahead. She reaches over and grabs her phone dialing the familiar number "I'm getting off at the exit now. I'll be there in about half an hour." she says once he answers.

He smiles to himself "Good I'll see you then." he says just before she hangs up. He looks over at the woman sitting beside him "She's on her way here now. I'm going to need your help trying to convince her that Lucas needs to know the truth now." the woman sighs and nods her head.

Lucas notices that Brooke is taking the next exit so he does the same. He sees that it's the exit for Charleston and he wonders what she could possibly be hiding down here.

Brooke turns right at the stoplight before making her way to a nice little neighborhood. Brooke pulls her BMW convertible in the driveway of a two story white house and turns off the engine. _You can do this_ she tells herself before grabbing her purse off the passenger seat and getting out of the car before making her way to the door.

Lucas sees Brooke pull into a driveway and passes it before going around the block and parking at the end of the street as he walks to the house he knows Brooke just walked in.

Brooke gets to the door and knocks waiting impatiently for the man to answer the door. A man around Brooke's age with raven colored hair and piercing blue eyes opens the door.

Lucas stares up at the house finally seeing Brooke standing on the porch waiting for someone to answer the door. He watches as the door slowly opens to reveal a very familiar man. Lucas gasps in shock at what he is seeing, he simply can't believe his eyes.

_What the hell is Brooke doing with Nathan. Why the hell would she lie about seeing his brother? Are they having an affair?_ All of these thoughts run through Lucas' head at the speed of light as he becomes even more confused.

Shaking his head he tries to come up with a logical reason. Brooke wouldn't cheat on him would she? He knew Nathan was in a bad place ever since Haley had left and Peyton had died hence him moving away from Tree Hill and rarely visiting, but Lucas didn't think Nathan turned back into the asshole he was before Haley.

Brooke meets his eyes "Hello Nathan." she says as he steps back to let her into the house. Nathan watches her walk through the threshold before turning and walking towards the living room where a brunette woman was sitting on a black leather couch clearly nervous as she drummed her fingers on the arm rest of the couch.

Brooke's mouth dropped in surprise her eyes widening as she looked at the petite brunette before whipping her head back to Nathan ."What...what is she doing here" Brooke rasped out confusion lacing the words as she kept looking between the two.

Nathan shakes his head and stares Brooke straight in the eyes "Why she's here isn't important. But you are here for a reason and I think it's time we get to what you came down here for." he says his tone almost cold.

"I think Nathan's right, this has gone on for far too long. Lucas should have been told about what was going on years ago." the woman adds.

Brooke sends her a glare "I really don't think this concerns you so why don't you just stay out of it?" Brooke fires back at her.

"Of course this concerns me" The woman replied fire showing through her eyes as she locked them on Brooke's. "I think everyone needs to just come clean and stop hiding."

Brooke let out a bitter chuckle as she rounded on the brunette "Excuse me, but where the hell were"

"Hey Brooke" a man said walking out of the kitchen with a piece of Pizza in his hands instantly silencing Brooke's comment. "Glad to see you made it. Welcome to the secret meeting here" the brunette man offered giving her the plate.

Brooke sends him a look "No Jake I don't want any pizza." she answers shaking her head. She turns back to Nathan "Can we just get back to what I came here for?" she asks the anger showing in her voice.

"Look Brooke before we get to the discussion at hand I am getting some water...does anyone else want anything?" The brunette asked looking at the 3 other occupants who shook their head before stalking off into the kitchen needing a cool drink to help calm her nerves.

Lucas walked up to the door and put his hand on the door knob turning it and feeling a little relieved it was open. Its my brothers house I can just walk right in he told himself. Plus Brooke and Nathan are up to something and I deserve to know what it is. Silently opening the door he slid through the opening before closing it softly and making barely any noise walked to where he heard the voices coming from.

Brooke glances between Jake and Nathan before looking down at her own feet taking a deep breath "I know this needs to end Nate, I really do I've lied to him for so long now and" she pauses sighing before bringing her hazel eyes up to meet Nathan's blue ones "I can't keep lying to him like this."

"What needs to end?" Lucas asked his voice strong despite the bad feeling in his gut that something was desperately wrong. "What have you been lying about?" Lucas continued before Brooke had a chance to answer.

Brooke, Nathan and Jake all stare at Lucas in total shock none of them sure how to react. Lucas looks up and for the first time notices Jake standing there beside Nathan. "Jake?" Lucas asks becoming even more confused.

Lucas looks back and forth between the three people standing in front of him shaking his head. He's not sure what is going on, but he does know that he has to get to the bottom of this and fast.

He takes a deep breath "I don't know what's going on here, but somebody better start giving me answers and I mean like now." he says growing angry.

"Uncle Nafan Uncle Nafan" a little girl yelled running down the stairs and into the living room, "Comets missing" the little girl whimpered running up to Nathan tears streaming down her pale face as her blonde curls were pulled into a pony tail.

Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before bending down. "Sawyer you left comet in here, come on lets go grab him" Nathan said taking the little girls hand and walking her to the other part of the living and picking up a white teddy bear with green eyes that matched the little girls' whose arms now possessed it.

"Thanks Uncle Nafan" the little girl said smiling, pulling on Nathan's jeans so that he would bend down so she could wrap her little arms around him.

Lucas watched the little girl in shock. She was a spitting image of Peyton, from her black t-shirt and jeans to the curly blonde hair and emerald eyes that seemed to be so deep.

He looks up at Nathan and then over at Brooke before returning his eyes to the small child in front of him. No it can't be. This can't be happening they wouldn't do this to me He tells himself.

Shaking his head he looks up at Nathan "Nate what the hell is going on?" he asks; anger, confusion, sadness and pain all can be heard in his voice causing Brooke, Nathan and Jake to all exchange a look. They all three know that it's time to come clean.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys just want to say here is the next chapter and thank you to everyone who reviewed!! I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to this chapter. Also Heather made a trailer for this fic on youtube. We have posted the link on Haley's profile so go check it out when you have time. Enjoy and don't forget to review :-)**

Lucas continues to stare at the little girl in front of him unsure of what he should do or how he should react. Is this really his daughter? She looks so much like Peyton that it's unbelievable they could practically be twins. But if this is his and Peyton's daughter where is Peyton? How is that even possible? There is no way that the baby could have survived being born that early.

He shakes his head trying to clear it before returning his glare to Brooke "Tell me what is going on." he says calmly not wanting to upset the little girl. He glances back at the little girl who is sitting on the floor playing with her teddy bear. His lips turn upward in a smile as his heart clenches with nothing but love for this child he doesn't even know.

Brooke looks at Nathan and Jake silently trying to figure out how they are going to explain this. Brooke rubs her temples trying to figure out how she is going to get out of this one and still be able to keep her relationship with Lucas in tact. She sighs deeply as she watches Lucas watch Sawyer.

Nathan looks over at his brother and sees him watching Sawyer. He feels guilty for keeping this secret for as long as he did but at the time he thought he was doing what was best for everyone. He sighs then kneels down to the little girls level and gently putting his hand on her shoulder "Honey can you go play in your playroom? I need to talk to these people about some things." he asks her in a loving tone. She looks up at him and sends him a smile that warms his heart and nods her little head.

After Sawyer has left the room Lucas brings his eyes up to meet Nathan's. Lucas softens a little towards his brother after watching his interaction with the little girl. Lucas can tell that Nathan really loves her. But then Lucas remembers that he needs answers to several questions nobody has answered yet.

Lucas crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the three adults in front of him waiting for one of them to start talking. None of them move or even begin to speak so Lucas decides to start asking questions. "So who's going to start telling me what the hell is going on here? Is that little girl my daughter? If so how?" he asks waiting for someone to start talking but they all just stare blankly at him.

He grows angrier "ANSWER ME!" he yells startling them all. Tears flood Brooke's eyes "Luke we never meant to hurt you." she starts but before she can go any further the petite brunette woman walks back into the room. Lucas turns to see who it is and is completely shocked by the familiar face. "What's going on?" he asks his tone laced with shock and confusion.

The glass of water the petite brunette is carrying shatters to the floor in shock at seeing Lucas standing in the living room. "What...What are you doing here" she gets out nervously looking around the room at the other faces. No one was supposed to know she was here except for their little meeting group.

"No" Lucas yells getting irritated and running a hand roughly through his air in anger and frustration. "I'm not going to answer your question until someone starts answering mine" he seethes trying not to raise his voice so the little girl doesn't run back in. Knowing that if he saw her again he might just pick her up and then he would really be in trouble.

"Luke" Brooke said walking towards him, wanting to comfort him before the blow. Lucas just shook his head before taking a step back and holding up his hands. "I can't I can't deal with you until I know what's going on" He tells her feeling guilty when he sees the tears in her eyes mixed with guilt.

I never meant to hurt you" Brooke tells him honestly stopping in her tracks and taking a deep breath trying to compose herself. She wraps her arms around herself in a comforting way. She knows that Lucas is hurt and angry and she knows that it's all her fault but she isn't sure how to fix it or even if she can fix it.

Lucas looks over at the petite brunette that has just entered the room "Why are you here?" he asks but before she can answer he looks around the room "Why? Why did all of you keep this from me for so long? How is this even possible? Please just tell me the truth." he pleads.

Nathan thinks about how to tell him the news. He knows he will be pissed. Nathan looks at the other people around the room before clearing his voice. Jake shakes his head telling Nathan to tell him the truth. It's about time Jake thinks to himself.

"Sawyers your daughter" Nathan said bluntly giving no room for any of ther other people to try and hold this off any longer.

Lucas reels back as though he's been slapped. His heart starts beating erratically in his chest. Sawyers his daughter. How's that possible. Does that mean Peyton's still alive. Why would his brother keep this from him. How could Brooke keep this from him? A million thoughts fly through his head as he looks at his brother in confusion. "What...what do you mean Sawyer's my daughter...that's not...that's not possible." Lucas finally croaks out.

"Brooke came to me that night a mess because Peyton died...you were at her funeral Nathan so what the hell do you mean that that little girl is my daughter?" Lucas asks his hands shaking.

"That's why I'm here Lucas" the petite brunette finally speaks up. "I was there that night. I saw the accident. I saw two guys dive into the water to try and rescue her." The petite brunette adds.

"What do you mean you were there Haley? You were on tour when Peyton died. You chose music over your family. You didn't even come back for Peyton's funeral and you were supposed to be her friend. How could you do that?" he asks the anger and sadness apparent in his blue eyes.

Haley's brown eyes fill with tears as she looks at her former best friend her heart breaking "Luke I" she pauses to take a deep breath "I just couldn't ok? I couldn't be there and watch that." she answers sadly knowing that she still needs to tell him the truth.

Lucas shakes his head trying to wrap his brain around all of the information he has just received. He still doesn't understand how Sawyer could possibly be his daughter when Peyton died that night. "Haley what do you mean you saw the accident and two guys dive into the water?" he asks as calmly as he possibly could.

Haley looks over at Nathan and Jake and they both nod their heads giving her permission to answer truthfully. Jake glances at Nathan both silently agreeing that this has gone on long enough and that Lucas needs to know the truth now.

Haley turns her attention back to Lucas "I came back to town that night to try to save my relationship with Nathan but before I could get to him I saw Peyton's car go off the bridge. Before I could do anything I saw two guys jump into the water after her." she begins thinking back to that night.

"Who were the guys Haley?" he asks as he glances over at Nathan and Jake suddenly he knows what her answer is going to be. He shakes his head and closes his eyes before opening them again slowly.

Haley takes a deep breath and slowly walks towards Lucas who takes a step back. "Luke I'm sorry." she begins before he gives her a looks that says just answer my question. She swallows hard then begins to speak again "Nathan and Jake were the guys who dived in after Peyton." she says as Nathan and Jake look away from Lucas.

Lucas glares at them "They did find her body." he says at almost a whisper "WHY didn't they find her body?" he begins to yell then tones his voice down not wanting Sawyer to be afraid.

Nathan looks at Jake both very guilty. Jake nods at Nathan telling him to just end this now. Nathan nods then turns back to his brother "Lucas they didn't find her body because Jake and Haley took her to the hospital. They were trying to save her." he says honestly.

Lucas runs his hands through his hair and closes his eyes as he tilts his head upward trying to fight his anger. His mind is racing with unanswered questions and he still feels like they are all trying to avoid the important questions.

"So Peyton was alive?" Lucas asks confused. "Then why...how could you let everyone think she was dead? How could you let us go along with the funeral?" he asks tears threatening to spill over the rims of his eyes.

Nathan and Jake both turn to Haley silently asking her to explain everything the best she can. Haley at first shakes her head not wanting to be the one to tell him everything. But she sees the pleading in Nathan's eyes so she decides to tell Lucas the truth.

Haley takes a deep breath before beginning "Luke when Peyton got to the hospital she was in very bad shape. The doctors didn't think she was going to make it through the night." as she talks she looks up into Lucas's eyes and she sees the pain that is evident all across his face. She quickly glances at Brooke and sees that same pain since this is the first time Brooke has heard exactly what happened that night.

Haley sighs before continuing "The reason we all agreed to not say anything is because the doctors said that she had basically no chance at all to make it. They put her in a medically induced coma so that they could keep her alive until the baby was born." she says sadly.

"That's why I wasn't at the funeral I stayed with Peyton so that she wasn't alone, hoping she would just wake up but she didn't" Haley said a tear streaming down her cheek as she tried to compose herself to finish the story.

"Four months later the doctors did a c-section and delivered a healthy baby girl. Nathan, Jake and I were there to meet her." she says smiling as she remembers that day.

"Why didn't you tell me" Lucas asked betrayal lacing his voice. "I should have been there for that! I should have been there for Peyton. DAMN!" he cries out turning around away from them with his head in his hands.

He slowly turns back around and looks right at Nathan "Damn it Nathan how could you do this to me? My own brother kept this from me for all these years. Did you ever think about how I would feel? I deserved to be there for the birth of my daughter, I should have been the one who got to name her and hold her for the first time. I deserved to be the one who raised her." he says growing angrier.

Nathan shakes his head growing angry himself "You treated Peyton like shit that night Lucas. What makes you think you deserved to even be a part of that baby's life? You told her mother that you hated her. You didn't deserve anything." Nathan fires back at him.

Lucas glares at him. He has no right Lucas thinks. He has no right to decide that Lucas didn't deserve to know his daughter. His blood was boiling as he continued to realize he's missed his daughters first cry, first steps, first word. His brother was trying to play daddy to his daughter. Making a tight fist Lucas marched up to Nathan pulled back his fist and released it punching Nathan's face.

Nathan was pissed. Reeling his fist back Nathan punched Lucas before grabbing his shirt and pinning him against the wall. "You don't deserve her Lucas and you never did." he yells hitting his brother again.

Lucas shoves Nathan off him with such force that Nathan falls to the floor. Lucas stares at him for a second before his anger takes over and he's on top of him hitting him left and right. Jake shakes his head as the girls cling together not understanding how this got so out of hand.

"I had every right to get to know my daughter Nathan every damn right and you took that away from me. I should have been with Peyton and my daughter not you." Lucas yells as he hits his brother again and again.

Jake rushes to the two men and pulls Lucas off of Nathan "Luke stop this isn't going to solve anything." Lucas turns quickly and punches Jake in the eye stunning him instantly.

"Lucas that's enough!" Brooke shouts. "I know you are upset and I understand that I do but you need to control yourself. That little girl could walk in here at any second and do you really want her to see you like this?" she asks crossing the room and taking his arms in her hands "Luke this isn't you. I know that right now you probably hate everyone of us but please stop this. If not for me or even yourself stop this for Sawyer." she pleads looking him dead in the eyes.

Jake helps Nathan off the ground as Haley checks on both of them. "You alright?" she asks they both just nod glaring at Lucas.

"How long Brooke?" he asks looking Brooke in the eyes "How long have you known that my daughter was alive?" Brooke looks into his eyes and sees the anger. She shakes her head and sighs "A year." she says in almost a whisper.

Lucas jerks away from her and shakes his head "You've known that my daughter was alive for a year and yet you didn't think you needed to tell me?" he says his voice raising slightly.

Brooke hangs her head feeling ashamed of herself "I was afraid things would change between us if you knew that your daughter with Peyton was alive. She was happy and safe here with Nathan and Jake." she answers honestly. "I'm sorry Lucas it was wrong of me but..I was always so damn insecure about you and Peyton. I was afraid that you would love her daughter more than you did me. I was afraid that when we had kids they wouldn't be as important to you as Sawyer would be." she says sadly.

Lucas shakes his head "You know that's really selfish Brooke. I've been going through hell the last three years and for at least a year of that time you could have helped me. She's my daughter Brooke of course I would have loved her more than you. I would have loved her more than anyone." he says as the tears finally slip down his face.

Lucas tries to calm himself down some he looks at Nathan "How long was Peyton in a coma?" he asks. Nathan stares at him for a second trying to figure out how to answer that question.

Nathan looks at Haley who squeezes his arm reassuringly. "Four months." he says sadly as he looks up at Lucas with tears in his eyes "I'm so sorry Lucas." he says as a tear falls down his cheek.

Lucas looks at Nathan as the tears fall from his eyes freely. He thinks about Peyton and how he should have been there for her. Somehow he feels like he's let her down even more than he felt he had before. He should have been raising Sawyer himself, it should have been him taking care of his little girl raising her the way Peyton would have wanted her to be raised. "Did she suffer?" he asks choking on the words.

Nathan looks at Jake and then back to Lucas and shakes his head "No she didn't suffer Luke." he says quietly.

Lucas wipes the tears from his eyes "I want to see her. I want to spend some time with her." he says strongly walking towards the door he watched his daughter walk through. Nathan just nods not trying to stop him in any way.

Lucas walks towards the back of the house and hears the sounds of cartoons coming from a room so he slowly opens the door and peeks in. He sees Sawyer sitting on the floor playing with her teddy bear keeping herself entertained. He smiles at the sight in front of him as his heart swells with pride. He never knew he could love someone so much in just a matter of a few minutes. But he already loves this little girl; she's a part of him and she's a part of Peyton.

He walks further into the room "Hi Sawyer." he says not wanting to scare her. She looks up at him and smiles "Hi" she says shyly. He smiles down at her "I'm Lucas your Uncle Nathan's friend." he says not sure of how to explain who he really is to her. "Can I sit down with you?" he asks.

She nods her little head patting the floor beside her. He walks over to where she is sitting and sits down beside her. "Who do you have here?" he asks pointing to her teddy bear.

She smiles handing him the bear "This is Comet, my mommy had him for me before I was born." she says almost sadly. As Lucas watches her talk his heart breaks at the thought of Peyton never knowing their daughter.

Back in the living room Jake looks at Nathan "Was that wise Nate? What if she says something that she shouldn't?" he asks in a whisper so that Brooke and Haley can't hear him.

Nathan just shrugs "Jake I couldn't keep him from her any longer. If she says something I'm sure that we can come up with a way to switch it around." he answers quickly.

Lucas sits and watches Sawyer playing with her teddy bear and telling him all about spending time with Nathan that morning "He took me to the park and we played on the swings. It was really fun." she says happily.

Lucas' feels his heart clench. He should be the one taking his daughter to the park and making her breakfast and playing with her. "Sounds like you two had fun." he says trying to mask his jealousy. She looks up at him and nods sending him a huge smile that reminds him so much of Peyton.

Suddenly all he can think is that he wants to take his daughter and leave with her. He knows that it's crazy and that she doesn't really know him but right now he's not thinking clearly at all. "Sawyer do you like ice cream?" he asks knowing that most kids love ice cream. Of course she nods her little head "Do you want to go with me to get some ice cream?" he asks and she jumps up excitedly.

"Can we really?" She asks her eyes wide in excitement. He smiles at her "Of course we can." he answers holding his arms out to pick her up. She gladly lets him carry her down the hall towards the front of the house.

What do you think your doing?" Nathan asks stepping in front of the door and blocking the exit.

"I'm taking my daughter" Lucas tells him defiantly.

"We're gonna get ice cweam Uncle Nafan" Sawyer tells him a huge smile plastered on her face.

"The hell you are" Nathan said reaching for the blonde in Lucas' arms, but Lucas is quicker wrapping his arms tighter around his daughter shielding her while glaring at Nathan.

"No, why not Nathan. She's my daughter. I have a right to her. You are not her father." Lucas practically seethes out. "And Peyton...Peyton is dead. Sawyer only one parent left and that's me. You are NOT keeping my daughter away from me any longer" Lucas tells him.

"Look Luke Sawyer doesn't know you." Nathan said trying to reason with his brother without telling him the truth.

"Nathan? What's going on?" A woman asks walking down the stairs her voice laced with sleep as Brooke, Haley and Jake walk out of the living room trying to figure out what the situation going on is.

Everyone looks at the woman, Brooke's mouth drops in shock and Lucas' eyes widening in shock as Lucas almost drops Sawyer.


	7. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: Hey everyone in some of the reviews I noticed a few people were worried that we changed the characters from Brooke and Lucas to just Lucas. It has always been like that. Also I know a few people are worried this is going to be Leyton because that's what Heather writes BUT I have written a few brucas stories so you never know. We will not say who Lucas will end up with, but we are going to end the story with the couples Haley wanted. Anyways this chapter is longer than we anticipated but we wanted it to end the way we ended it. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please review because it makes me and Heather feel like people are still enjoying Haley's storyline. **

"But...what...I thought..."Brooke sputtered out trying to say a complete sentence but only a jumble of words coming out.

Lucas hoists the little girl up his arms as he stares at the woman now at the end of the stairs.

"Momma" Sawyer screams turning and twisting trying to get out of Lucas' arms. Lucas numbly sets her down as the little girl runs to her mother. "Uncle Nafan's fwiend is gonna get me ice cweam" Sawyer tells her smiling happily blissfully unaware of the shocked faces around her.

"But Uncle Nafan said no." she says pouting. The woman laughs at her pouting daughter "Well it's almost time for dinner any way sweetie so no ice cream right now." she tells her as she hugs the small girl to her.

Lucas and Brooke both stand there too shocked to say a word. Lucas looks over at Brooke and can tell that she is just as shocked as he is. "Peyton?" he says in a shocked whisper.

Peyton opens her mouth to respond but before she can Nathan moves so he's standing in front of the two curly blondes. "Hey Peyt why don't you go take Sawyer to her room and play while I talk to everyone okay?" Nathan asks her turning around, his eyes pleading with her to just obey what he asked her to do. Numbly shaking her head Peyton turns and walks up the stairs giving one last look around the room before she disappeared up the stairs.

Lucas looks at his brother, his eyes practically burning into Nathan showing the rage inside the light blue. "She's alive?" Lucas asked in disbelief.

Nathan takes a deep breath "Yes she's alive." he says slowly. Brooke's mouth drops from the shock. Lucas balls his hand into a fist as if he is going to hit his brother again.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why in the last year didn't you tell me that Peyton was alive?" Brooke cries still in shock.

Lucas stands there wondering how Peyton could keep their daughter away from him for so long "How could she do this to me?" he asks in a whisper almost to himself but loud enough Nathan hears him.

Nathan looks at Jake who looks at Haley, they both nod to Nathan telling him it's time to tell the whole truth. Nathan sighs then runs his hand over the back of his neck "Peyton doesn't remember anything about the accident or the months leading up to it. The last thing she remembers is when she and I were dating before you joined the team." he says looking Lucas in the eyes.

Lucas has a look of total shock written on his face "What?" he asks in confusion. He looks at Nathan shaking his head "I don't believe you. Your lying" Lucas tells him angrily.

Haley looks at Lucas "He's not lying Luke. Peyton really doesn't remember anything after you joining the Ravens." she says trying to convince him that Nathan isn't lying.

"I can't believe you Haley" Lucas tells her shaking his head. "You just don't want me to be happy do you?"

Haley looks at him with wide eyes "What? Lucas how can you say that? Of course I want you to be happy. Why wouldn't I?" she asks.

Lucas looks at her and she can tell he's beyond angry "I really don't know Haley, but I just can't believe that Peyton doesn't remember me or anything that we went through together." he yells.

"Lucas it's true Peyton doesn't remember any of it. She doesn't remember dating me either." Jake tells him honestly.

Lucas lets out a sarcastic laugh "Like you would tell me the truth! You all just thought it would be better to lie to me." he says sadly. He looks right in Jake's eyes "You just did it so that you could have Peyton to yourself. If I was out of the picture then she would be all yours." he yells.

Jake doesn't know how to respond to that. Lucas then turns to Nathan "And you… well you've always been jealous of my relationship with Peyton. You probably just thought you could play daddy to my daughter. Well I'm sorry Nathan your daddy playing days are over." he says angrily.

"Lucas grow the hell up...I wasn't playing daddy" Nathan tells him angrily "If Peyton remembered you then why didn't she go see you huh?" Nathan asked rhetorically.

Nathan shakes his head "Look Lucas you want me to be honest with you?" he asks and he watches Lucas nod his head yes "Fine but just remember you asked for it." he sighs "I didn't tell you that Peyton or Sawyer were alive because the last words you spoke to Peyton were 'I hate you'. Why would I tell you that she was alive after you hurt her so badly? You caused all of this Lucas." he says angrily.

---

Peyton took Sawyer to her room and grabbed the crayons smiling at the little girl as she reached for the white paper. "Why don't we color" Peyton told the little girl as she eagerly nodded her head, sitting down in a little chair.

Peyton felt sick, her stomach was in knots and her head was pounding. _Lucas_ she thought her heart breaking. As soon as she saw him it was like a mini movie playing in her head of all the things they shared, their first kiss in the hallway, sneaking behind Brookes back, his accident, breaking up with him so that her best friend could be happy. The school shooting and how he kept her company, the night Sawyer was conceived, going to see Jake because she couldn't face Brooke after what happened and she felt ashamed for sleeping with Lucas even though she loved him. She remembered fighting with him after he found out he was Sawyer's father.

She felt the unshed tears burn her eyes and she remembered him telling her she hated him. Feeling her legs give out Peyton sat on the bed and covered her face with her hands trying to pull herself together before Sawyer turned around. Gaining as much strength as she could Peyton wiped her eyes and put a smile on her face before going to sit next to Sawyer and coloring, commenting on the little girls drawing.

"Momma" Sawyer said looking up at her mother, "are you okay?" Sawyer asked innocently seeing her mother's face.

"Yeah baby" Peyton responded putting a smile on her face. Sawyer put down her red crayon and stood up and walked to Peyton's chair.

"I love you mommy" Sawyer told her innocently giving her a hug.

Peyton felt her heart swell with love for her daughter. "I love you too baby" Peyton responded making her mind up.

If Lucas hated her and believed she didn't remember him then she was going to let him. She might not have remembered him before tonight but after all the pain he caused her she thought it would be best to pretend she didn't remember him. If he wanted to get to know their daughter she would be cordial, but he wasn't getting in her heart not this time.

"So what should mommy draw?" Peyton asked her daughter as Sawyer gave her a blazing smile. Putting her index finger to her mouth she tapped it before her eyes lit up. "Uncle Nafan's fwiend" Sawyer told her not noticing Peyton's composure slip before she pulled herself together again.

"Okay S. Scott" Peyton told her tickling her daughters side before picking up a pencil and starting the sketch, smiling when she saw Sawyer start coloring again.

"Momma I'm gonna color it otay?" Sawyer asked pointing to the paper.

"Okay baby" Peyton responded closing her eyes and drawing Lucas with a smile on his face.

---

Lucas looks at Nathan not believing what he just said "How dare you blame me for this? I'm not the one who has been living a lie for the past three years." he says in a harsh tone.

Nathan shakes his head "No you haven't been living a lie for the last three years; you've been living a lie for a lot longer than that." he growls out.

Lucas looks at him in shock "What the hell do you mean by that?" he asksNathan looks from Lucas to Brooke and then back to Lucas "Exactly what I said. You've been living a lie for a long time Lucas. You've been pretending for years now that Peyton was just a friend to you, but everyone in this room knows better." he looks at Brooke who looks like she's been slapped by Nathan's words.

Lucas starts to say something, but Brooke holds up her hand to stop him "How dare you Nathan, you don't know anything about mine and Lucas' relationship, you haven't been around for 3 years so don't you dare talk about what you don't know" Brooke tells him her hands shaking in anger.

Lucas looks at Brooke and nods agreeing with her knowing that she is just as shocked by Peyton being alive as he is. Brooke looks right at Nathan "I agree with Lucas how do we really know that Peyton doesn't remember anything? Also, why hasn't she contacted me? If she remembers everything before Lucas joined the Ravens why hasn't she tried to see me?" she asks trying to figure out if Nathan, Jake and Haley are lying about Peyton's memory.

Jake moves to stand next to Nathan "Brooke you said that Nathan hasn't been around for three years and he doesn't know anything about your relationship with Lucas. Well you haven't been around Peyton in the last three years either. She's changed, she's not the same girl you knew back then. After the accident for awhile after she woke up she couldn't remember anything and then slowly she started getting her memory back piece by piece. By the time she remembered enough to remember you she felt it was too late and it would be too shocking for you to know she was alive." he answers.

Brooke shakes her head violently "No! I don't believe that." she cries "Peyton wouldn't want me to go on thinking she was dead. She would want me to know that she was alive and she was alright. She wouldn't be that cruel, you're lying Jake." she turns to Nathan "Nate please tell me that he's lying. There is no way Peyton wouldn't get in contact with me." her eyes lock with his pleading him to tell her Jake's wrong.

Nathan sighs "It was too late Brooke, Peyton didn't really get her memory back until almost a year after the accident. By that time she was still trying to figure out how she had a child that she didn't remember being pregnant with or giving birth to." he tells her. He shakes his head "I'm sorry Brooke, but Peyton made that decision on her own nobody told her she couldn't contact you."

Brooke let a lone tear escape as everything sunk in. Her best friend was alive. Why would Peyton go on letting her think that she was dead?

Lucas walks over to Brooke shaking his head he can tell she's upset so even though he's still upset with her for keeping the fact that his daughter was alive he feels he needs to comfort her. He pulls her into his arms and lets her cry into his chest "Shh it's going to be alright." he whispers.

Brooke pulls away from Lucas and looks right at Nathan "I need to see her, I need to talk to her." she says firmly.

Nathan shakes his head "Brooke I don't think that's a good idea. You're too upset and I don't want her to get upset as well. I'm sure this is all very confusing for her." he tells her.

Brooke looks at him shocked "Confusing for her?" she yells "What about me? You don't think this is confusing for me?" she asks sarcastically.

Haley looks at her and rolls her eyes thinking same ole Brooke always thinking about herself. "Brooke, that's not what Nathan meant he just meant that Peyton's been through so much the last few years and it's really hard on her not being able to remember part of her life." she tries to explain.

Brooke shakes her head angrily giving Haley an evil look before turning back to Nathan "In the last year since I found out about Sawyer why didn't you tell me that Peyton was alive? How could you let me know about Sawyer, but still let me believe that Peyton was dead?" she yells.

Nathan's head dropped "It wasn't my place to tell you Brooke. Peyton didn't want you to know." he says looking up at her sadly.

Brooke shakes her head "I don't believe that Nathan, I think Lucas is right and you just wanted to keep her to yourself." she spits out.

"Yes your right Brooke I wanted Peyton all to myself" Nathan said smirking.

Lucas felt his blood boil as his fist clenched. Seeing Lucas' face Jake decided he better step in before another fight would break out. "Look guys why don't you two stay for dinner that way Lucas can see his daughter again and Brooke you can talk to Peyton." Jake said calmly.

"Fine!" Brooke and Lucas both spit out at the same time.

Brooke looks at Lucas then back to Jake "Is there a place where Lucas and I can go talk about some things?" she asks.

Jake nods "Yeah come on you can use my room down here." he says leading them towards the back of the house.

Nathan looks at Haley "I'm going to go upstairs to check on Peyton and Sawyer to make sure they're both alright." he tells her. She nods as she watches him walk up the stairs.

Nathan knocks softly on Peyton's door "Hey you guys alright?" he asks. Peyton looks up at him and smiles. He walks further into the room and sits down on the bed beside her watching Sawyer color.

Peyton looks at him "How's things going down there?" she asks.

Nathan shrugs "Well my brother has punched me once already and that was before he saw you so you can only imagine how it's going. They don't believe me about your memory. Lucas thinks I'm keeping you from everyone to keep you for myself." he says looking at her and for a split second he believes he sees a spark of recognition and a sliver of guilt in her eyes.

Peyton looks away quickly not wanting Nathan to know that she has regained her memory "I'm sorry Nathan maybe you shouldn't have stayed with me for so long. Maybe you should have just went back to Tree Hill after I woke up." she says with tears in her eyes.

Nathan shakes his head wrapping his arm around her and pulling her towards him. He kisses her temple lightly "No you know I wasn't going to leave you when you needed me most." he says.

She looks at him and smiles sadly, he looks at her and squeezes her shoulder to reassure her that she isn't alone. He looks at the clock and realizes that it's getting late "I should probably go start dinner." he says getting up when he gets to the door he turns back to her "Oh um Lucas and Brooke are staying for dinner. Brooke wants to talk to you and it might help convince them that you really don't remember any part of your life that involves Lucas."

Peyton nods "That's fine besides it'll be good for Sawyer she already really likes Lucas." she says smiling towards her daughter. Nathan nods before leaving and closing the door behind him.

---

Brooke paced the small room wringing her hands together and trying to calm herself before speaking. Lucas stood there his hands in his pockets as he waited for Brooke to speak, his mind on everything he had learned over the last couple hours. His daughter was alive, Peyton was alive. Brooke knew about Sawyer, Nathan was with Peyton. Haley was home from the tour. He grasped at straws as he tried to make sense of everything.

"Why are you so upset if Nathan and Peyton are together? Do you love her?" Brooke rasped out looking at Lucas. Lucas' bowed head shot straight up his eyes looking at Brooke's hazel eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Nathan is trying to play daddy to my daughter and it's not right Brooke. Honestly I loved her the moment I saw her" Lucas answered honestly.

Brooke pursed her lips together trying not to cry. "I mean she's my daughter Brooke she's a part of me" Lucas answered smiling.

Brooke let out a breath of relief glad he was talking about Sawyer. "What about Peyton?" Brooke asked needing to know if now they knew Peyton was alive if he would leave her. "I love you Lucas and I'm so sorry about keeping Sawyer from you but please forgive me. I didn't know what to do. Please forgive me" Brooke said grasping Lucas' hands and looking into his eyes begging for forgiveness.

Taking his hands away from Brooke he ran a hand through his hair. "I love you Brooke I do and Peyton was just a friend before she died. We made a mistake, but I wouldn't give my daughter back for anything. I just can't trust you" He answered honestly as Brooke looked at him her tears falling down her cheeks. "I mean damn it Brooke you kept Sawyer a secret from me for a year!" Lucas said raising his voice. "You knew about my relationship with Dan and you let me become him. How could you not tell me?" Lucas asked brokenly.

"I'm sorry! " Brooke told him looking down at the ground. "I know I shouldn't have kept that a secret from you but I was just so afraid that if you found out about her that would mean the end of us." she cried.

Lucas looks at her with hurt and anger in his eyes "Why would that mean the end of us Brooke? Just because I had my daughter in my life wouldn't mean that I would love you any less." he says his eyes piercing into hers.

Brooke looks away from him not really knowing how to answer that question. Lucas walks towards her and grabs her hand "Brooke! Why would that mean the end of us?" he asks again.

She looks up at him "I don't know ok? All I know is that you and Peyton have this connection and you always have. Now that connection, that bond is stronger because of your daughter. I was just I guess I was just afraid that maybe you would love that little girl more than you would love me." the tears that were in her eyes quickly fell down her cheeks.

"Brooke of course I'm going to love that little girl more she's my daughter" Lucas answered "but you should've told me the truth. I just I can't handle this right now" Lucas said holding up his hands and walking out the door leaving Brooke standing there with tears running down her face. Quickly composing herself Brooke walks out the door to see Lucas going up the stairs.

"You okay?" Haley asks gently.

Brooke looks at Haley with tears in her eyes "I think I've lost him Haley." she cries.

Haley looks at her for a second before placing her hand on Brooke's arm trying to comfort her.

Haley sighs "Brooke you haven't lost him he has just learned that two people he thought was dead for the past three years are in fact alive. Brooke honey he just found out his daughter is alive. That's a huge deal for him." she tells her trying to give the brunette some hope.

Brooke just looks at her shaking her head "No Haley I've been right this whole time. Now that he knows they're alive I've lost him." she says before walking out into the living room.

Lucas kept thinking about how his daughter was upstairs. She wasn't in the ground somewhere like he was led to believe for the last 3 years, but alive and smiling upstairs with her mother. Peyton. Making his way up the stairs Lucas walks towards the voices and looks in the room to see Peyton sitting on the bed and Sawyer at a little table coloring. Clearing his voice "Peyton" he asks hesitantly.

Peyton looks up clearly startled. "Yes" she asks worriedly.

"Do you mind if I take Sawyer downstairs and play with her?" He asks softly.

Sawyer whips her head up excitedly her eyes pleading with her mom to let her go. "Go ahead" Peyton tells him picking at the bedspread. "I will just take a shower before dinner then" she adds before kissing Sawyers forehead and whispering I love you in her ear and smoothing the little girls curls.

Lucas and Sawyer walked down the hall and into the play room Sawyer happily telling Lucas about her mom and drawing.

---

Nathan walks into the kitchen where he sees Haley sitting at the bar. "I'm going to start making dinner, we're having spaghetti" he tells her getting out two pans and putting water in one before setting it on the stove.

"He has a right to be upset" Haley tells him nervously.

"Damn it Hales I know" Nathan said whipping around and facing her. "But he told her he hated her. He was part of the accident" Nathan tells her angrily.

"You can't blame him Nathan" Haley tells him honestly. "It's not his fault. He doesn't hate her he was just angry she was hiding something from him. He thought Jake was the baby's father he was just surprised he was and that she wasn't going to tell him."

Nathan runs his hand through his hair before adding the noodles not knowing what to say.A few minutes later the two were surrounded by silence. "You need to stir the noodles or your going to burn them and ruin it" Haley told him making Nathan roll his eyes.

"Then you do it" he tells her handing her the spoon as she gets up and walks to the stove stirring the noodles.

---

Jake walks into the living room to find Brooke sitting on the couch trying to wipe away all of the tears from her face. He sits down next to her "Hey don't cry I know this is a lot to take in, but Brooke you've got to know how hard this is on him. I mean you just found out that your best friend is alive when you thought she was dead for the last three years. Think about how he feels he just found out his daughter is alive. He's missed a huge part of her life Brooke." he tells her.

Brooke looks up at him and nods "I just need to get out of here for awhile." she says sadly. Jake just sighs shaking his head.

Jake stands up and begins walking towards the door before turning back to Brooke "Hey do you want to run to the store with me? Nathan said we are having spaghetti tonight and we need cheese bread." he asks.

She looks up at him and gives him a weak smile before nodding her head. He walks towards the kitchen and yells "Hey Nate, Brooke and I are going to run to the store to get the cheese bread we'll be back in a bit." He turns towards Brooke "After you." he motions towards the door. She smiles and leads the way outside.

---

Sawyer leads Lucas to her playroom where all of her toys are. "Come have a tea party wif me." she says happily. Lucas just smiles and follows her over to a small table where there is a plastic tea set on the table.

He pulls out a chair for her and she looks up at him grinning. He then walks around the table and sits across from her. "Would you like some tea?" he asks in a fake British accent picking up the small tea pot causing her to giggle wildly.

She pretends to drink her tea while Lucas continues to watch her. _She's so beautiful_ he thinks to himself. _I can't believe that they would do this to me. I can't believe they would keep my baby girl from me for all this time_. He shakes his head subtly not wanting her to notice that anything is wrong.

Suddenly something hits Lucas _I need to go see my mom, I need her to meet Sawyer,_ he thinks. He looks at the little girl "Hey Sawyer would you like to go on a little trip with me?" he asks.

She looks up at him unsure "What will my mommy say?" she asks.

He just smiles at her "Oh you're mommy will be fine with it. I want to take you to meet my mom in the town that your mommy and your Uncle Nathan grew up in." he tells her hoping she'll go with him without an argument.

She seems to think about it for a minute before looking at him "Otay I go wif you but onwe if Comet can come." she says holding up her bear.

He lets out a laugh "Of course Comet can come with you." he tells her. "Now why don't you stay here for a few minutes and play while I go tell everyone we're leaving and get you some clothes?" he asks. She nods her little head then goes back to pretending to drink tea.

Lucas quickly slips past the kitchen and up the stairs to the little girls room. He hurriedly stuffs some pajama's and clothes from her closet into a backpack before rushing back downstairs.

He rushes into the playroom "Okay let's go." he says picking her up. He walks through the house as quickly and quietly as he can checking to make sure that nobody is around to see him leave. He pulls the front door open and hurries to his car when suddenly he realizes that he doesn't have a car seat in his truck.

He looks over and sees a car seat in the back of another car and quickly checks the door handle and finds it unlocked. He opens the door and grabs the car seat out before rushing back to the truck he borrowed and installing the seat. As fast as he can he gets Sawyer buckled in. Once he's in the drivers seat he starts the engine and quickly moves past the house and towards the highway.

---

Peyton steps out of the shower feeling better than before and steps into the clothes she laid out before her shower her favorite jeans and a black tank top. Running a comb through her curly locks she pulls them in a pony tail before looking in the mirror. _You can do this_ she tells herself before opening the bathroom door and walking down the stairs.

As she gets to the bottom of the stairs she notices the front door open. Scrunching her eyebrows together she closes the door before walking into the playroom. Seeing it empty she frowns wondering if they are in the kitchen. "Sawyer, Nathan, Hales, Jake?" She calls out wandering around the house.

"In the kitchen" She hears Nathan call. Walking in the kitchen she sees Haley and Nathan but no sigh of the rest. "Where is everyone?" she asks trying to push the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach away.

"Jake and Brooke went to the store to get the cheesy bread and last I knew Sawyer was with you" Haley answered her eyes fixed on the noodles as Nathan busied himself opening the jar of tomato sauce.

"No Lucas, that's his name right?" Peyton asked pretending not to be sure. "Yea" Nathan said answering the questions. "He asked to play with Sawyer.

"And you let him?" Nathan asked turning around complete panic on his face. Lucas and Sawyer alone couldn't be good, especially since he didn't know what Lucas would tell the little girl.

"Yea" Peyton replied not really seeing what the big deal was.

"Shit" Nathan cursed before walking in the hallway and calling out Sawyers name.

"Maybe they went outside?" Peyton said. "The door was open when I came downstairs" Peyton told them.

Nathan quickly turned away towards the play room and headed for the door the girls quickly following suit. Whipping it open he felt his heart drop as he saw only his car, Brooke's and Haley's in the driveway. "Shit" he yelled turning around and facing the girls. "He took her....Lucas took Sawyer" as Peyton felt her heart drop.


	8. Chapter 7

****

Hey guys thanks for all of the reviews we got for the last chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying this story. If you are let us know that we are doing a good job at keeping Haley's memory alive. If you don't like it or wish something was different let us know that too. We love to hear what you guys have to say and what you think. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

"I can't believe he just took her" Haley said in surprise.

"Damn it I knew we couldn't trust him with her alone." Nathan said feeling the anger at Lucas kidnapping his niece. Sure Sawyer was his daughter but she didn't know Lucas.

Peyton took a deep breath knowing Sawyer would be safe. "It's okay Lucas won't hurt her." Peyton said reassuringly. "He probably took her to meet Karen and let Karen meet her granddaughter" Peyton told the duo closing her eyes when she realized she slipped up about not regaining her memory of Lucas as Haley and Nathan looked at her their shock evident on their faces.

"Peyton what are you talking about? I thought you couldn't remember Lucas?" he asks still in shock.

---

Lucas looks in the rear view mirror at the image of his beautiful daughter and it instantly brings a smile to his face. He looks back at the road and wonders how his life could get so messed up. How one afternoon everything he thought he knew turned out to be wrong. His baby girl and her mother were both alive and living only a few hours away.

He can't believe that the people he thought were his friends could keep something like this from him. What is my mom going to say? How is she going to react to the fact that her granddaughter is alive?

His mind wonders to Peyton and the fact that she didn't try to contact him at all over the last three years. Did she really lose her memory? Or did she agree that it would be best to keep his daughter away from him? His mind is telling him that yes, Peyton kept his daughter away from him on purpose and out of spite. But his heart doesn't want to believe that she could be that cruel.

**You make me feel like I am young again  
Whenever I'm alone with you  
You make me feel like I am fun again  
However far away  
I will always love you**

The little curly blonde sang making Lucas smile. "Your mom play this song a lot?" Lucas asked remembering when he was friends with Peyton she loved The Cure and this song was one of her favorites. Personally he thought the music was depressing and whiny.

Yeah and mine too. I love The Cure and Audioslave" Sawyer told him before continuing jiggling her leg, singing and nodding her head to the song making Lucas smile as he watched in the rearview mirror.

---

Brooke bit her lip as she stood next to Jake waiting to check out. "She called me once" Brooke divulged.  
Jake looks at Brooke somewhat confused. She looks away afraid of what his reaction is going to be. Brooke looks at him "I thought it was a joke that some twisted jerk came up with to freak me out." she rambles.

Jake looks even more confused "Brooke what are you talking about?" he asks as he see the pained look on her face.

*Flashback*

Brooke is sitting on her bed painting her nails when her cell phone rings. She glances at the caller id and notices that it's from an unknown caller. She shrugs then quickly answers it  
"Hello?" She is only met with silence "Hello is anyone there? I don't have time for childish games." she says firmly.

"Brooke it's me. It's Peyton." she hears someone say in almost a whisper

Brooke shakes her head violently the tears instantly stinging her eyes at the mention of Peyton's name. "No it' can't be Peyton died a year ago. This isn't funny." she yells before slamming the phone shut.

*End Flashback*

Jake looks at Brooke completely shocked by what she has just told him. He can't believe that Peyton called Brooke and didn't tell him, Nathan or Haley about it.

Peyton looked between the two shocked faces pushing a curl out of her face as she thinks about what to say. "I just remembered when I saw him," she tells them honestly.

Haley looks at her still confused "What like when you saw him in the house earlier?" she asks trying to understand.

Peyton nods her head "Yes, when I saw him standing there holding Sawyer everything came rushing back." she tells them unsure of how they are going to react.

Nathan shakes his head "Why didn't you tell me this Peyton? When I came up to check on you, why didn't you tell me that you remembered everything?" he asks taking his frustrations out on her.

"Because I didn't know how you would react and I just wanted some time to wrap my head around this" Peyton says throwing her hands up in the hair in frustration. "I didn't think he would take Sawyer and I was going to tell you" Peyton huffed out. "Eventually" she added so softly that Nathan and Haley barely heard her.

"And now that you've had time to wrap your head around it all?" Nathan asked mockingly.

Peyton just stares at Nathan not sure how to answer that question. Nathan looks into Peyton's eyes and can tell that her heart is conflicted.

Jake looks at Brooke "So Peyton called you?" he asks not sure what else to say.

Brooke looks away from him feeling guilty for not believing that it was Peyton to begin with.

She takes a deep breath then turns back to Jake "Yes she did call me and I hung up on her." she says tears welling up in her eyes threatening to spill over at any second.

Jake can hear in Brooke's voice begin to crack "Brooke it's ok, it's not your fault. You thought Peyton was dead so why would you think it was real?" he asks

Brooke looks at him with sadness written on her face "But I should have known she was alive Jake. She is my best friend and I played a huge part in her accident." she says the tears finally spilling over the rims of her eyes.

Jake just shakes his head pulling her into a tight hug wondering how things got this messed up.

"If Lucas knew that I know who he is he would've thought I had been lying the whole time and I wasn't I swear" Peyton added after seeing Haley's look of disbelief.

Peyton sighed before walking towards the living room and sitting down Nathan and Haley following.

"What are you going to do?" Haley asked looking at Peyton.

"The hokey pokey" Peyton said trying to joke before taking a deep breath. "Well I know he's going to see Karen... I just know that's where he would go so I guess I have to go to Tree Hill" Peyton said making up her mind. "Yes Lucas has a right to his daughter, but I don't want Sawyer in a new place with no one she knows. Plus this is my fault," Peyton tells the duo knowing they won't be happy about her leaving, especially Nathan, even more when he learns she is planning on going by herself.

Nathan just sits there looking at Peyton "Alright well when Jake and Brooke get back we'll fill them in on what's going on and then we'll head to Tree Hill." he says nodding his head.

Peyton just looks at him "Well I think maybe we should wait and eat dinner first." Nathan looks at her dumbfounded. Peyton sighs not wanting to tell them that she's planning on going alone "I just think it'll be best for all of us if we eat dinner first. None of us have eaten anything since breakfast." she says matter of factly.

Nathan looks over at Haley "Fine we'll leave as soon as dinner is over." he agrees.

Peyton sighs thankful that he bought her excuse. "I think I'm going to go lay down for a little while. I'm starting to get a headache." she tells them. Peyton gets up and walks up the stairs leaving Nathan and Haley in the living room.

"Do you believe her?" Haley asks hesitantly looking at Nathan.

"What that she didn't remember until she saw Lucas with Sawyer?" Nathan questions.

"Yes" Haley says knowing in her stomach that Peyton was telling the truth.

"Yes" Nathan said. "I knew she was hiding something from me earlier I just didn't think it was this" Nathan said running a hand through his hair.

Haley reached over and grabbed his hand. "Everything will be okay Nathan, I know it will" she says giving his hand a squeeze before walking to her room at Nathan's to pack her stuff.

Nathan got up from the couch and followed her leaning against the door frame as he watched her try and hoist her suitcase on the bed. "Hey Hales" Nathan called forcing her to look at him. "I'm glad you're here for all this" he tells her sincerely before walking out the door leaving a smiling Haley behind him.

---

Brooke looks over at Jake as he pulls the car into Nathan's driveway "Thanks for being there for me earlier. I just have so many thoughts running through my mind." she says smiling at him.

Jake just smiles back at her knowing that she is still very confused about everything she has gone through. "Everything will work out" he tells her giving her a little faith.

"How do you know?" Brooke asks vulnerably her hazel eyes locked on Jake's brown orbs.

"Because a friendship like yours and Peyton's doesn't just go away and if she tried contacting you it means she wanted her best friend. You have a chance to fix your friendship with her so go talk to her...tell her you thought someone was playing a joke on you when she called...just be honest with her" Jake said patting Brooke's hand before getting out of the car and walking into the house letting Brooke sit with her thoughts.

Brooke sits there for a few minutes thinking about what Jake said. Maybe he's right maybe her friendship with Peyton isn't over. Just maybe there is still time to fix all of the things she's done wrong.  
She takes a deep breath then slowly opens the door to the car and gets out looking up at the house before slowly making her way to the front porch. She opens the door and walks into the living room to see Nathan walking down the stairs.

She looks at him and smiles "Um Nathan would it be possible for me to talk to Peyton? I need to apologize for everything." she says quietly.

Nathan looks at her for a minute not really sure what to say. He doesn't want Peyton upset any more than she already is. He sighs "Yeah Brooke she's up in her bedroom third door on the left." he tells her pointing towards the stairs.

Brooke nods at Nathan before walking towards the steps. As she begins to walk up the stairs she hesitates not really sure what she should say to Peyton.

Nathan watches her for a minute "Brooke just go up there and let your heart lead you. She misses her friend." he tells her trying to reassure her that she's doing the right thing.

Brooke turns around at the sound of his voice and gives him a weak smile mouthing 'thank you'. She slowly makes her way up the remaining stairs before walking to Peyton's door. She takes a deep breath before knocking.

She waits a minute and hears Peyton "Who is it?" she calls out.

Brooke sighs "It's me Brooke, Peyton can I talk to you for a minute?" she asks. A few seconds later she hears the lock click and the door opens, Brooke walks through as Peyton holds it open for her.

---

Sawyer is singing along with the radio when her stomach growls. Lucas looks in the rearview mirror "You hungry sweetie?" he asks."Yes my tummy's hungry." she replies nodding her little head.

Lucas notices that they are coming up to an exit that has a diner that they can stop at. "Ok we'll stop to get something to eat. What do you like?" he asks curiously.

She smiles "French fries!" she cries happily.

Lucas laughs "Just like your mother." he says shaking his head smiling "Alright we'll get you some french fries, but what do you want with your french fries?" he asks knowing that she needs to eat something other than french fries for dinner.

She thinks for a minute "Can I have chicken nuggets with my french fries?" she asks.

Lucas nods "Of course you can baby you can have anything you want." he tells her with a smile as he pulls into the parking lot of the diner.

He helps her out of the truck and they go in and get a table. The waitress comes over "Well aren't you just a cute little angel?" she asks Sawyer who just blushes.

The waitress looks at Lucas and smiles "Your daughter is very beautiful." she tells him. Lucas just beams with pride at her words. "Thank you." he tells her.

Sawyer looks at the waitress "He's not my daddy he's my Uncle Nafan's fwiend." she says quickly.

Lucas looks at her and his heart breaks a little at her words. He knows that she doesn't know any better but still it breaks his heart just the same.

Lucas just turns and smiles at the waitress, the waitress just laughs "Well she's beautiful any way. What can I get for the two of you?" she asks still smiling.

"I want french fries." Sawyer calls out.

Lucas chuckles "She'll have chicken fingers and french fries and I'll have a cheeseburger and fries." he says placing their order. The waitress writes it down and smiles before turning to go turn their order in.

After a few minutes the waitress comes back carrying their meals. They both begin to eat in silence, once they are finished they get back on the road heading towards Tree Hill.

---

As soon as Brooke is in the door Peyton closes it before going back to throwing things in her bag.  
"What's up?" Peyton asks running around the room and grabbing things she might need for the weekend.

"Can we talk?" Brooke asks hesitantly.

"Yeah sure" Peyton says looking at Brooke before grabbing her comb off the dresser and throwing it in the suitcase.

"Lucas took Sawyer and I know he took her to Tree Hill to see Karen" Peyton told the brunette holding up her hand to stop the brunette as she looked to see Brooke opening her mouth to speak.

"I know Lucas deserves to know his daughter, but I'm not going to let my daughter be in a different city with strangers even if they are her family she doesn't know them and she will get scared. I don't want her to be scared of Lucas, plus this is my mess and I need to deal with it myself, but..."Peyton said taking a deep breath before glancing at the brunette. "Do you wanna come with? We can talk on the road and I really want you to come with me cause I don't know if I can do this alone and you could maybe help me with Keith and Karen, please?" Peyton asked her eyes pleading with Brookes and she stared at her stopping her movements as she waited for the brunette to answer.

"Sure" Brooke agrees "but should we tell Nathan, Haley and Jake?" Brooke questions.

"No" Peyton says shaking her head adamantly. "They will just try and stop us and we need to leave now to try and get to Tree Hill as soon as we can. We'll take your car but I'm driving" Peyton says zipping up her bag and grabbing it before walking out the door leaving Brooke to follow.

"Guessing I don't have much of a choice" Brooke says talking to herself. "Guess some things never change" she adds before following the curly blonde out the door.

---

Lucas looks back at the sleeping child and smiles feeling his heart warm at the sight of her. He looks up at the house where he grew up and knows that his mom is going to be angry. He's just not sure if she's going to be angry with him for taking Sawyer without Peyton's permission, or if she's going to be angry with Peyton, Nathan, Haley and Jake for lying to everyone all this time.  
He has a feeling that she's going to be angry about both but he knows that she's going to be very happy to learn that her granddaughter is alive and well.

Slowly he opens the door of the truck and gets out pausing with his hand on the back door of the truck. He takes a deep breath before opening the door and reaching in to lift out the sleeping child.  
His heart melts even more when she nestles her little head against his shoulder and sighs a content sigh. He grabs the bag he packed for her and makes his way to the door taking a deep breath before quietly opening it. "Hey mom!" he calls out.

"Lucas my boy what are you doing here?" she says before walking out of the kitchen. The smile on her face quickly turns to shock "Oh my God." she says as her coffee cup falls out of her hands and crashes to the floor. "Lucas?" she says barely able to speak.

Keith comes running out of the bedroom upon hearing the sound of the cup breaking "Karen are you alright?" he asks before he sees Lucas holding Sawyer "What the hell is going on?" he asks when he sees Lucas and a sleeping blonde.

Lucas tighten his hold on his daughter before looking at his parent's. "This is my daughter" he whispers lightly looking down at the curly blonde.

Karen looks at her husband before looking back at her son. "Lucas what are you talking about?" She asks confusion showing in her features.

"Mom, Peyton didn't die in that car accident" Lucas divulged waiting to see what his moms reaction was going to be before he told her the whole story.

This time it was Keith who spoke up. "What do you mean they never found her body...look son I know you feel guilty that Peyton died but its not your fault" Keith said trying to console his son.

"No" Lucas said adamantly shaking his head. "This is my daughter, mine and Peyton's" He added looking down at the little girl. He knew as soon as he saw her why couldn't his parents.

Karen looks at Lucas wondering if her son has finally lost his mind. "Lucas honey I know that this has been hard on you but..." she begins.

"No mom don't you see, she is like a mini Peyton, just look at her and you can see it." Lucas says his eyes pleading with his mom to believe him.

Keith looks at the little girl "Lucas she has blonde hair but son she can't be your daughter. Your daughter and Peyton are dead." he tells him firmly.

Lucas looks at them in shock wondering why they won't believe him "No Peyton isn't dead, she's alive and so is our daughter. This is our daughter." he says looking down at the child.

Keith looks over at Karen with concern written all over his face wondering what the hell is going on.

---

Peyton turned into the driveway and shut off the car before unbuckling her seat belt looking over at the brunette nervously.

"Good to know now that all these years your driving hasn't changed a bit...and remind me to never let you drive my car again" Brooke said unbuckling her seat belt as Peyton rolled her eyes. Her driving had never been that bad as she got out the door.

Brooke opened her door and got out before walking in front of the car and holding her hand out to the blonde, Peyton hesitantly taking it as they walked to the front door. Looking at Brooke who gave her a nod of encouragement before she raised her hand to knock on the door.

Keith looked between Karen and Lucas and the little girl Lucas claimed to be his before making his way to the door and opening it a look of shock at seeing Peyton standing in front of him.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey guys Kelly and I would like to apologize for not getting this posted sooner! Life just sort of got in the way! We will try to have the next chapter written and posted more quickly then this chapter was. I hope you all like this chapter and reviews are greatly appreciated! If you have any questions or concerns feel free to send us a PM and Kelly or I will answer you! **

"Well I should be back tomorrow at like 1," Jake said his cell held up to his ear and he made his way to the kitchen stopping before walking in. "Tell Jenny I love her and I will talk to you later." Jake told the person on the other line before ending the call and walking into the kitchen his eye brows furrow as he sees Nathan gripping the counter and Haley with her head bowed low.

"Hey how long til dinner is ready?" Jake asked rubbing his stomach as Haley looked at Nathan.

"In about 10 minutes, you mind getting Peyton and Brooke and setting the table?" Nathan asked his voice strained as he continued to stir the sauce.

"Sure" Jake agreed before backing out of the kitchen not knowing what to say to the estranged couple.

Well that was awkward Jake thinks to himself before running up the stairs and to Peyton's bedroom. Knocking on the door he lightly opens it and doesn't see anyone in there. I wonder if she's in the guest room with Brooke.

"Peyton? Brooke?" Jake yelled waiting for one of them to respond as he made his way through the house and not finding them in any of the rooms.

Going back in the kitchen he wonders where the two girls are. "Hey Peyton and Brooke aren't here...did they say they were going somewhere to either of you?" Jake questioned.

"What?" Haley asked looking between the two boys, Nathan's face confused until realization sets in. "Damn it, she probably took Brooke to Tree Hill without waiting for us," Nathan answered slamming his fist against the counter

"So what are we going to do?" Jake asked looking between the divorced couple.

"I guess go to Tree Hill," Nathan said crossing his arms against his chest and leaning against the counter.

"I think we should wait until tomorrow morning," Haley spoke biting her lip as Nathan looked at her in surprise."I think Lucas and Peyton need to talk and we know Peyton will be okay because I don't think Lucas would start anything with Sawyer in the house and it would be late by the time we got there and Karen doesn't have room with all of us and it will give you some time to cool down," Haley said looking directly at Nathan and being the voice of reason.

"Hi" Peyton said meekly not knowing exactly what kind of welcoming she would get from Keith and Karen after so long.

Keith just stares in shock at the blonde trying to think of something to say but he continues to come up blank. He closes his eyes and shakes his head trying to make sure he's not imagining the sight in front of him. He slowly opens his eyes when he hears Karen's light footsteps behind him.  
"Keith whose at the door?" he hears her asks. He turns to stare at her.

Karen looks past Keith and gasps at the blonde curly haired girl standing in the doorway. "Oh my God Peyton." she says before falling to the ground fainting from shock.

Lucas hears a thud and looks at Sawyer her curious green eyes meeting his as he walks to the kitchen to see Peyton standing at the door and his surrogate father kneeling by his mom on the floor. Clutching the little girl closer he moves by his mom.

"What happened?" He asked Keith as Sawyer struggles to get out of his arms. "Mommy, mommy, mommy Uncle Nafan's friend got me french fries," Sawyer shouts oblivious to the tension in the room.

Finally getting free out of Lucas' arms she flies to her mother whose worried green eyes are glancing at the small family before her. "Momma" Sawyer said stomping her small foot on the tile in exasperation.

Lucas looks up at Peyton "What are you doing here?" he asks with a glare. Peyton looks down at Sawyer and immediately lifts the little girl into her arms hugging her tight. She glances behind her towards Brooke needing some reassurance.

Brooke walks up to stand beside Peyton "You took her daughter Lucas of course she would come here to get her back." Brooke says her voice low.

Lucas ignores Brooke "I thought you couldn't remember anything?" he asks Peyton.

Peyton glances at Brooke then back down at Keith who is trying to get Karen to wake up. Before Peyton can answer Lucas, Karen starts coming to. She looks up at Peyton "It's true! You are alive." she exclaims as Keith helps her up.

"Surprise." Peyton says weakly before being crushed in Karen's tight embrace.

"Oh Peyton! You don't know how happy this makes me. To know that we have you back." Karen says as the tears flow down her cheeks.

Peyton wrapped her arm that wasn't holding Sawyer loosely around the brunette woman, her heart breaking for all the pain she put this woman who she considered another mother through.

Lucas watches the duo his arms crossing against his chest as anger coursed through his veins. How dare Peyton come to his house with his fiancée and act like nothing had happened? He deserved to spend some time with his daughter, after all she has had her the past few years.

"We need to talk" Lucas said looking at Peyton, his blue eyes cold matching the tone in his voice.

Peyton looked at Lucas knowing that they should talk about everything but at the same time wanting to prolong the talk, which she was sure was going to end in a argument.

"Fine" Peyton tells him pulling away from Karen and giving her a small smile before putting the curly blonde down and kneeling in front of her. "I'm gonna go talk to Lucas, but I want you to stay here with Karen and Brooke okay?" Peyton asked gently, hoping her daughter would be okay with whom she considered strangers.

Sawyer looked at the two other women in the room and bit her lip, a trait she had picked up from her godmother before slowly nodding her head.

"Mommy used to know all of them really well when she was younger and I bet Brooke can tell you a lot of stories when I was younger," Peyton said trying to ease her daughter with staying with the three adults.

"Of course," Brooke told the young blonde, her dimples showing as she held out her hand. "I can tell you about the time me and your mom made up our own bakery," Brooke said in excitement.

"Really?" Sawyer asked in surprise, her mom never told her stories from when she was a little girl.

"Come on we will go in the living room" Brooke said as Sawyer put her hand in Brooke's bigger one.

Lucas watched his daughter interact with his fiancée and walked through the door leading to his bedroom knowing that Peyton would follow. Peyton put a brave look on her face before following Lucas' room her heart thudding loudly against her chest as to what was going to happen next.

Lucas walked into the familiar room and waiting until Peyton was inside before turning and closing the door behind her. He just stares at her for a minute wanting answers, but not exactly sure how to ask the questions.

"Lucas I know that you are angry with me right now," Peyton starts but Lucas holds up his hand stopping her.

"Peyton how could you do this to me? How could you let me think that you and our daughter were dead all these years? Do you hate me that much? Why have you been pretending that you couldn't remember anything?" as he begins to speak, the words begin to rush out of his mouth asking all the questions he was thinking at once.

Peyton closes her eyes and takes a deep breath "Lucas I wasn't lying to you!" she says before opening her eyes to look at him again. "Until the moment I saw you earlier I couldn't remember anything that happened since you joined the Ravens." She watches him shake his head in disbelief.

"No Peyton I don't believe that! I'm sorry but I just can't believe that you wouldn't remember something about me in all these years."He tells her coldly.

Peyton sighs "Lucas I know that this is hard for you but I'm telling you the truth. Do you honestly think if I had remembered you all along that I would have kept Sawyer away from you?" she asks her green eyes staring into his blue ones pleading with him to believe her.

Lucas turns away from her breaking the eye contact, he wants so badly to believe her, but his head is telling him that she isn't being completely honest with him.

"I hurt you the last time we spoke, I said some terrible things to you. But keeping my daughter away from me as punishment isn't that a little cold hearted?" he asks her getting angry.

A lone tear falls down Peyton's cheek "Lucas that isn't what happened I swear to you. After the accident I honestly couldn't remember anything about you being in my life. Yes you hurt me that night but..." she paused to compose herself. "I loved you with all of my heart and I could have NEVER done anything so evil as keeping Sawyer from you if I would have remembered you Luke." she says the tears falling freely now.

Lucas looks at her his heart telling him that he needs to believe her but his head again screaming NO.

Brooke sits on the couch next to Sawyer smiling down at the small miniature version of Peyton.

"You look just like your mommy." she says. Sawyer just smiles up at her proudly. Brooke takes a deep breath "Ok so you want to hear stories about your mommy when she was younger?" she asks the child.

Sawyer nods her head "Mommy never tells me anything about when she was younger. I think it makes her sad." she says putting her little head down sadly.

"Well maybe now mommy can tell you stories now that she's starting to remember." Sawyer's face lit up "Really?" she asks hopefully.

Brooke smiles at her and nods "I think so. But until then I can tell you a story." she says.

"Otay," Sawyer says putting her little hands under her chin and looking up at Brooke. Brooke thinks back to all of the great memories she has of herself and Peyton when they were younger.

"Hmm, I don't know which one to start with." she says using her index finger to tap her chin as if she's thinking causing the little girl to giggle.

Brooke chuckles "Well there was this one time when I decided that we needed to start our own bakery. We were going to name our bakery Brookie's Cookie's and make chocolate chip cookies." Brooke laughs at the memory. "But the cookies were horrible because your mom and I added too much salt to the batter." she says laughing harder now.

Sawyer starts laughing "That's funny." she says between giggles.

Karen and Keith stand in the doorway watching Brooke interact with Sawyer, both still in shock that Peyton and Sawyer are both alive. "Can you believe this?" Karen asks Keith quietly.

"No" Keith replies honestly, his arm wrapped around Karen's waist as they listen to Brooke tell Sawyer about their younger days.

"How do you think the talk is going?" Karen asked her husband.

"Everything will work out in the end and I think we should try and get to know our granddaughter, if Peyton will let us," Keith said as Karen nodded her head in agreement.

Karen continues to watch Brooke interact with her granddaughter and she can't help but wonder what this means for the brunette's relationship with her son. She knows that Lucas loves Brooke but does he love her more then he loves Peyton? Karen sighs knowing that only Lucas knows the answer to that question even though she has her own suspicions.

Lucas shoves his hand in his pockets and looks at her, trying to see if she's lying. "I don't know how you expect me to believe you" he finally spoke shrugging his shoulders.

Peyton tucks a loose curl behind her ear as she looks at the floor, trying to think of how to make Lucas believe her. "Look why don't you just think about everything I said and we can talk in the morning," Peyton said looking at Lucas, the exhaustion of the day making her yawn as her hand coming to cover it.

Lucas runs his hand through his short blonde locks thinking it over. "Okay," he concedes knowing he needs more time to digest all the information he received today.

Peyton lets out a sigh of relief as Lucas opens his bedroom door and gestures for her to go ahead of him. She quickly walks to the door but pauses right in front of him "Think what you want Lucas, but remember that I would never knowingly hurt you the way you are hurting now. My heart couldn't bear that." she says staring deep into his eyes before rushing from the room.

Lucas stares after her stunned by her words 'what does she mean by that?' he thinks to himself 'does that mean she has been telling the truth and she only got her memories back after seeing me? If so what does that mean?' he wonders.

Lucas shakes his head before walking towards the living room where he can hear Sawyer laughing at something Brooke has just said to her.

Peyton walked into the living room and smiled at her old best friend and daughter sitting on the couch, glancing at the clock she rubbed her tired eyes knowing it was way past her daughters bedtime.

"Okay little missy we need to go," Peyton told her daughter looking at the clock and seeing it was almost 11 pm.

"But momma Bwooke was telling me stories," Sawyer said her eyes wide in excitement before a yawn escaped her mouth, her little hand not fast enough to cover it. Peyton raises an eyebrow knowing her daughter must be exhausted. "But...but mommy," Sawyer whined not wanting to leave.

"You will see Brooke again baby," Peyton promised knowing that the drive up the brunette had said she wanted to rebuild her friendship with the blonde.

Karen watches Peyton pick Sawyer up off the couch and place her on her hip, wondering where they will go. Surely she isn't planning to drive all the way home at this late hour. "Peyton where are you going to stay tonight?" she asks.

Peyton looks up at Karen and shrugs "I guess we'll just go to the hotel and get a room." she tells her before glancing over at Brooke "Can you drive us?" she asks.

Brooke looks at her "Peyton, we have an extra room at our house; you and Sawyer should just come stay with us." she says with a smile.

Peyton looks at Lucas who looks shocked by the offer his fiancee has just extended to Peyton. He notices that Peyton looks just as shocked as he is and can see the nervousness in her eyes.

Karen notices this as well "Brooke I think maybe it would be better if Peyton and Sawyer stayed here tonight if she would like." she says before turning to Peyton "Honey you are always welcome here and we would love to have you both stay with us while you're in town." she says with a reassuring smile.

Peyton sighs a little relief flooding through her "Are you sure?" she asks Karen.

Keith walks towards her and places his hand on her shoulder "Of course she's sure. It makes more sense for you to stay here than at some hotel. I'm sure the bed is more comfortable than the bed at the hotel will be as well." he says chuckling.

"Thanks," Peyton said gratefully looking at Brooke and hoping she wouldn't be upset at Peyton and Sawyer staying at Keith and Karen's. Brooke smiles in understanding and Peyton breathes a sigh of relief.

"You can stay in Lucas' old room," Karen tells the younger woman as Keith goes in the kitchen to grab Peyton and Sawyers bag.

"Luke you wanna help me get Sawyer ready for bed?" Peyton asks hesitantly.

Lucas looks at her a bit shocked that she would ask him that but at the same time he's grateful that she is trying to include him. "Um...sure." he answer with a nod.

Peyton gives him a small smile before walking to his room her stomach filled with nerves as Lucas follows.

"Lucas" Sawyers sleepy little voice asks looking at the blonde man behind her.

"What?" Lucas asks his heart breaking at the fact that she doesn't know he's her dad.

"Can I wear one of your shirts to bed?" Sawyer asks so softly Lucas has to strain his ears to hear her.

He smiles to himself at her question "Of course you can, but why would you want to wear one of my shirts to bed when you have your own pajama's?" he asks with a laugh.

"Cause I like being around you." she says in a whisper causing his heart to tighten with love.

"I like being around you too," Lucas told her making his way to his closet and pulling out an old blue high school t-shirt that had Ravens written across it and held it out for her.

Peyton stood Sawyer up on the bed and started undressing the little girl, Lucas watching at how she smiled and laughed with their daughter before tugging the t-shirt over Sawyer's head. Lucas chuckled as the shirt engulfed her.

Keith knocked before walking in and handing Peyton her bag, a knowing smile on his face as Peyton thanked him.

Sawyer sat on the bed as Peyton rummaged through her bags for her pj's cursing herself for packing a short pair of shorts and a tank top.

Grabbing the clothes she made her way to the bathroom and changed walking back to the bedroom and avoiding Lucas' gaze as she walked over to the bed and sat down.

Lucas watches Peyton walk out of the bathroom in nothing but a very short pair of shorts that shows off her long legs nicely and a tight tank top that hugs her curves perfectly. Lucas shakes his head angry with himself for noticing things like that when his fiancee is just down the hall.

"Um Peyton it's a bit chilly out tonight would you be more comfortable in a pair of sweatpants?" he asks trying to keep his voice even, still angry with himself for the thoughts he keeps having about Peyton and her legs.

Peyton looks at him weighing her options 'Do I want to accept his offer and sleep in his sweat pants? Or do I tell him no I'll be fine?' she asks herself sighing 'It's just a pair of sweat pants and he's right it would be a lot warmer.' she answers herself. "Thank you Lucas that would be really nice." she tells him with a nervous smile.

Lucas goes to a drawer and pulls out a pair of grey sweatpants with Ravens written on one leg chuckling softly that he left most of his high school clothes at his parent's house.

Lucas hands them to Peyton and she quickly slips them over her shorts rolling the waist down so they rest on her hips, a thin patch of skin showing between the pants and her tank top before reaching in her bad and grabbing and grabbing I'll Love You Forever, which was one of Sawyer's favorite books before sitting on the bed as Sawyer laid in the middle and Lucas watching mother and daughter.

"Come on Lukey" Sawyer said patting the bed on the other side of her as Lucas walked over and sat on the opposite side of Peyton.

Once Lucas is settled Peyton begins to read "A mother sat rocking her newborn baby back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and as she rocked she sang; I'll like you for always, I'll love you forever, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." as Peyton continues to read Lucas watches as Sawyer's eyes drift shut and before the story is even finished she is sound asleep.

Lucas looks down at Sawyer and smiles before looking at Peyton and sighing "Well I guess I should go so that you can get some sleep." he says getting off the bed.

Peyton nods "Um Lucas I know that we haven't discussed everything yet but I think we need to tell Sawyer who you really are soon." she tells him nervously.

Lucas looks at her surprised wondering once again if she has been telling him the truth all along "I agree. Good night Peyton." he says before walking out of the room closing the door behind him.

Once out of the room he takes a minute to compose himself before facing his family. He shakes his head trying to make sense of everything that has happened that day. 'How can so much stuff happen in one days time that completely throws your whole world off balance?' He wonders to himself. He looks towards the living room and takes a deep breath before slowly making his way to where the rest of his family is.

Haley laid in her bed her eyes flicking to the alarm clock on the night stand next to her watching it turn from 11:20 to 11:21 huffing in exasperation as she rolled over onto her side willing herself to fall asleep, but knowing it was futile with him sleeping in the house. She wanted the comfort on his strong arms wrapped around her. Normally she would've been sleeping in his room with him, but nobody knew about them and they weren't ready to become public yet. Glancing at the clock and seeing it turn to 11:23 she groaned. Throwing the comforter off her body she stood up and slowly made her way to the door. She hoped he wouldn't be mad at her for sneaking into his room, they would just have to make sure she was out before the other occupant in the house woke up. Quietly opening the door she tip toed to Jake's room and opened the door to see him sleeping, a smile on her face as she watched him.


	10. Chapter 9

**HJS-NS-23- Hey guys sorry it's taken us so long to update, but we both got stuck and didn't know what should happen in this chapter. Anyways we feel really guilty for making you guys wait and hopefully people are still reading this story. Please let us know what you think and remember we always knew all along who the couples were going to be. Please review. Thanks! Kelly and Heather.**

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Lucas watched as Brooke pulled in the driveway behind him. He takes a deep breath before stepping out of the car and leading the way towards the door. Once inside he turns to look at Brooke. "Look it's been a long night and all I want to do right now is try to get some sleep." she nods her head sadly not saying anything in response.

Lucas walks up the stairs and a few minutes later Brooke hears the door to the spare bedroom shut. Brooke sighs '_Well I guess he's sleeping in the spare bedroom tonight._' she says to herself as she climbs the stairs.

Brooke can hear Lucas moving around in the next room and she shakes her head. _How did it come to this? Why did I have to lie to him? _she wonders to herself. She lets out a puff of air before walking over to the closet to get a comfy pair of sweats that she hasn't worn in years down from the top shelf. As she tugs on the pants a small box falls down with them. Curious she picks it up and carries it to the bed, opening the lid she gasps.

Making sure to shut the door quietly Haley crept to Nathan's door, a smile playing on her lips knowing they wouldn't be caught by anyone since Jake was sleeping and no one else was there.

Opening the door she slipped in shutting it behind her and she watched him, nibbling on her lower lip as she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. A slow churning ache of feeling pooling in the pit of her stomach as she looked at his naked torso, the sheets kicked to the end of the bed and his pajama bottoms slung low on his hips. Fiddling with her gold pinkie ring she purposely made her way to his bed, her chocolate orbs full of lust as she gazed at the raven haired man fast asleep.

Nathan felt her come into the room, but tried to keep his breath steady as he listened intently to her walking towards him. He could feel her hot breath on his face as her fingers feathered his hair before cupping his face. Thanks to all his years of training for basketball he had catlike reflexes as his hand shot up and cupped Haley's neck crashing her lips on top of his. Haley moaned in surprise before she felt Nathan grab her waist and pull her on top of him, his tongue running against the seam of her lips asking for permission, which she granted happily. Their tongues dueled as pressed her hips against his, teasing him and smiling when she heard a groan escape

"I love you," Nathan told her pulling away and resting his forehead against her his blue eyes full of lust and love looking up at her as his hand brushed a piece of hair off her face.

Nathan moved his hand up and down Haley's back a few times before she looked up at him smiling. Leaning up he captured her lips with his before pulling her shirt over her head and continuing his roaming hands to pull her flesh against his, needing to be with his wife again. He couldn't believe how close they were to getting caught by Jake when they were supposed to be cooking dinner, but now, now he could make love to his wife without any interruptions.

As Brooke shifts through the contents of the box her heart drops to her stomach. _This can't be what I think it is. No Lucas wouldn't have kept this all these years, he couldn't have._ Her thoughts racing quickly through her head as her heart begins to race at the same time.

She finally puts the box down as the tears fall down all around her. She sits still on the bed for several minutes before finally getting up and walking towards the closet. She grabs her suitcase and throws it open on the bed before hastily throwing several outfits inside. Once she is finished she closes the suitcase and slips quietly out into the hall. She checks to make sure no noise is coming from the other room before making her way to the living room.

She sits the suitcase on the floor next to the door and walks over to the couch grabbing the afghan off the back and lays down thinking back on the last few years. She can't believe that all of this time her best friend was alive and she never knew it. But what hurts her more than that is what she found inside the box Lucas had hidden. She can't believe he could have held on to all of that this long without her knowing. Brooke shakes her head in disbelief and sadness, before long she drifts off to sleep.

The morning light filtered into the room shining on Haley's face as she buried her face into Nathan's side trying to fight the light. Nathan's arm tightens around Haley pulling her closer to him as his eyes stay close trying to block the harsh sunlight.

Haley sighs deeply as she chews on her bottom lip knowing that Nathan is awake, but not knowing how to approach him with the subject. Looking up at him she smiled before her fingers play with the chain around his neck. The chain that holds his wedding ring noone knows he still wears.

"Stop it" Nathan said trying to keep the smirk off his face as he could feel her body tense as she laid next to him.

"What" Haley asked trying to pretend she wasn't hiding anything from Nathan. She still didn't even know how to broach the subject or how he would react. After all they had kept it a secret all these years for a reason.

"Whatever you're worrying about. Just stop." Nathan told her knowing that she wouldn't be able to do it, but maybe at the very least she would tell him what was wrong.

Haley let out a huff of breath. "How do you know I'm worried? You didn't even open your eyes." She asked incredulously. "You think I need to see you with my eyes to know what's going on with you. What's on your mind?" Nathan prodded wanting to know what was wrong with Haley whether it had to deal with Peyton or seeing Lucas or what it was.

Haley internally debated with herself wondering if she should tell him before the words spilled out of her mouth. "I want to tell people about us...I want to tell Jake. He's our friend and I just want the world to know that I love my husband. I want us to be us again even in public. I'm tired of hiding behind closed doors," Haley told him her voice catching in her throat as she tried to stop the tears that had filled her eyes from falling. Nathan heard her voice crack and opened his eyes seeing the pain etched in Haley's brown eyes along with the unshed tears. Turning on his side he lightly wiped a tear that escaped. "Are you sure? We hid this for a reason Hales with your career and my career it's not going to be easy" He told her his voice low.

Haley let out a puff of air. "I know that Nathan, but I think it's time we stopped hiding."

"Hales think about how everyone is going to react. There gonna be hurt we hid it for so long. There gonna be pissed we didn't tell them, but we didn't even know if it was going to work...if we were going to work." Nathan tried to soothe her.

Haley played with the gold pinkie ring on her finger as she looked up at Nathan. "Are you ashamed of us? Of the fact were together?" Haley asked the vulnerability in her voice along with the words shocking Nathan.

"What?" Nathan asked sitting up and looking down at Haley who followed his lead and sat up also. "Hales how can you think that?" Nathan questioned needing to know when the doubt had come in. After all they had decided to keep a secret and agreed on it 100 percent.

"What if something happened Nathan? What if you got injured during a game and were in the hospital and if I tried to see you and everyone found out you had a secret wife the press would be all over us...What if...I can't lose you Nathan and I am scared I am going to because of something stupid and I just...I want to be with you...and I want everyone to know because I love you Always." Haley started and Nathan interjecting with "Forever" his heart aching with the pain he could see flashing in Haley's eyes.

The next morning Lucas wakes up and stretches having slept on the guest bed made his back and neck sore. He rubs his hands over his face trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. He can hear Brooke moving around downstairs so he decides that he should probably get out of bed and go talk to her. He's not sure what to expect after what happened the day before, but he knows that they need to have a long talk.

Lucas walks downstairs to find Brooke dressed and sitting on the couch, he glances over towards the door and sees her suitcase packed and ready to go. "Brooke what's all of this?" he asks his eyes darting between Brooke and the suitcase.

Brooke looks up at him with tears in her eyes "I'm leaving Lucas." she says simply. He looks at her in disbelief, but before he can say a word she continues. "I found this last night while I was getting something out of the closet." she says as she hands him the box that she found.

Lucas looks at the box and his whole body stiffens, while his eyes go wide with fear, shock and guilt. "Brooke I can explain." he says in merely a whisper.

Brooke holds up her hands, "I'm not sure I want to hear whatever explanation you are going to give me Luke." Her eyes meet his and he can see the pain in them and that breaks his heart. "When I found that last night Lucas it broke my heart," she says as the tears begin to fall down her cheeks. "That box made me realize that you were never going to let her go Luke."

Lucas shakes his head "Brooke please let me explain. I only kept that box to remind me of Peyton. To remind of the heartache and pain that I caused you and her by my actions. I'm sorry Brooke I truly am. I forgot that stupid thing was even in the closet to be honest." he tells her trying to explain his actions.

Brooke nods "I think it's time you stopped lying to yourself and everyone else Lucas. You didn't keep that box because of the heartache and pain you kept that box to remind you of how much you loved Peyton, how much you still love Peyton." Her voice catches in her throat as she speaks the words.

Lucas takes her hand in his "Brooke I love you and I know we have some things to work through, but please don't leave like this." he eyes plead with hers.

Brooke pulls her hand away from his, "I know you love me Lucas and I love you too but honestly neither of us are in love with one another. If it wasn't for the accident and you believing Peyton and Sawyer were dead all this time you and I wouldn't even be together." He starts to disagree, but she stops him. "No Luke it's true and you know that, Peyton is the mother of your child and in the end we both know you would have chosen her. Because it always comes back to Peyton and it always will. I refuse to be your second choice." she says flatly.

She walks to the door and takes her suitcase in her hand "I love you Lucas and I always will that's what sucks about all of this. I believe that one day we can be friends again, but for now I can't stay here." she opens the door and turns to walk through it. Before she closes the door behind her she turns and meets his eyes "Goodbye Lucas!" she says quickly shutting the door behind her and rushing to her car before she can break down.

Lucas falls into the chair closest to him and the tears begin to fall, he cries for his broken relationship with Brooke and he cries because he knows that she's probably right about his feelings for Peyton.

Peyton slowly opens her eyes before glancing around the room, it takes her a minute to realize where she is. She sits up slowly trying not to disturb her sleeping daughter. She sighs before pushing the covers back and walking to the door quietly opening it. She glances back to the bed to make sure that Sawyer is still sound asleep, she smiles to herself when she sees her daughter sleeping peacefully.

As she moves towards the kitchen she can hear someone moving around and she figures that it's probably Karen because she can smell food cooking. She hesitates before entering the kitchen not sure how the older woman is going to react after she's had some time to process everything that happened the night before. She takes a deep breath before forging ahead to face whatever she is about to face.

As Peyton enters the kitchen Karen looks up from the paper that she's reading and smiles at Peyton "Good morning Peyton how did you sleep?" she asks in the motherly tone that Peyton remembered and loved.

Peyton smiles at her "I slept very well thank you Karen for letting us stay here last night." she says in a reserved tone still not sure what to expect from the other woman. Peyton knows that Karen is going to have more questions, but for some reason for the first time in a really long time Peyton feels safe.

"It's honestly not a problem Peyton; I'm thrilled to have you and Sawyer back in our lives. Speaking of Sawyer is my granddaughter still sleeping?" the brunette woman asks her face beaming with pride at the mention of Sawyer.

Peyton nods her head "Do you mind if I have some coffee?" she asks nodding her head towards the coffee pot.

Karen lets out a laugh "Why of course I don't mind Peyton make yourself at home. Anything you or Sawyer want is yours." she tells her sincerely.

Peyton smiles at her before pouring her coffee and then joining Karen at the table "I know that you probably have a lot of questions for me so feel free to ask whatever you want and I'll try to answer them the best I can." she says looking Karen in the eyes wanting to get this out of the way now before Sawyer wakes up.

Karen places her hand on top of Peyton's then looks directly into the blondes eyes "Honey all I need to know is that you and Sawyer are alive and well and that I get to have you both in my life. I know that until very recently you couldn't remember parts of your life so I understand why you stayed away for so long. I also know that had you been able to remember everything you would have never kept Sawyer from her family. I'm just glad you had Nathan to help you and make you feel safe."

Peyton looks at her with tears in her eyes "I don't know what to say Karen for the last few years being with Nathan, Jake and Haley I did feel safe. But being here with you, knowing that even though I've been away for so long nothing has changed between us. I actually feel safer now than I have in a very long time. I finally know where I belong again; where Sawyer belongs and that she has a full family that loves her," at that point the tears spill over the brims and fall down her cheeks.

Karen stands up and walks around the table to wrap her arms around Peyton "You have a whole family who loves you as well Peyton. You don't know how happy I was to see you last night. Yes I was shocked, but when we thought we had lost you; it was as if I had lost my own daughter. Now I have you back and I couldn't be happier." she admits truthfully. Peyton wraps her arms around the older woman and they embrace for a very emotional long overdo hug.

"Nothing's going to happen to me Hales" Nathan told her honestly stoking her cheek.

"What if something does though?" Haley can't help but argue. "Can we at least tell Jake? I know he will keep it a secret and then we wouldn't have to sneak around to be with each other when we're in the house."

"Okay" Nathan conceded feeling better about everything when he saw Haley's eyes shine with light and a smile fill her face.

"Really?" Haley asked wanting to make sure he was serious.

"Yes" Nathan said chuckling softly when Haley lunged at him and kissed him passionately.

"How about I go to the store and get stuff for breakfast?" Haley asked figuring they could tell Jake over food to help comfort the shock.

"Only after I'm done with you," Nathan told her pulling the sheet off her body as his eyes and hands traveled her body. Haleys laughter filling the room as Nathan tickled her before kissing her deeply..

Lucas is still sitting in the same chair in pretty much the same position he was in just after Brooke left. _What have I done?_ he asks himself.

He shakes his head trying to clear it before running his hands through his hair. He decides to take a hot shower hoping that will clear the fog so he can process all that has happened and figure out how to move forward.

Slowly he gets out of the chair and makes his way up to the bathroom. He grabs a towel and wash cloth out of the closet before turning on the water and checking the temperature. Once the water is just right he undresses and steps under the hot stream of water.

As the water washes over him some of the stress is washed away with it. He knows that feeling is only temporary, but for now he doesn't care. He lets out a deep breath before hitting the shower wall in frustration.

His head is spinning as Brooke's words play over and over in his head If it wasn't for the accident and you believing Peyton and Sawyer were dead all of this time you and I wouldn't even be together. He can't help but wonder if maybe she isn't right. He wonders if maybe deep down he does still love Peyton.

Realizing that the shower really isn't doing anything to help his mood he decides to get dressed and head over to his mom's so he can see Sawyer and hopefully talk to Peyton about things. He needs to just focus on getting to know his daughter as well as getting to know Peyton again. He knows that it's been a few years and Peyton is just now finally remembering everything from her life once he met her.

As Lucas is getting dressed he can't help but wonder how Peyton feels about him. Does she still love him? Or did the pain and suffering he caused her prove to be too much even for them to move past? He sighs not sure if he really wants to know the answer to either of those questions.

Lucas walks into his parents house "Mom, Keith? Where are you guys?" he calls out not finding them in the kitchen. He begins walking through the house "Is anybody here?" he calls out.

Peyton walks out of his bedroom not watching where she is going and almost runs into Lucas "Oh God Luke you scared me. I'm sorry I was listening to my I-pod." she says looking up at him nervously.

Lucas just nods "It's alright where is everyone?" he asks looking around.

"Oh um your mom and Keith took Sawyer to the park because they wanted to spend some time with her alone. I was a little surprised she went with them so easily." she answers.

Lucas looks at her "Ok well can we talk then?" he asks.

Peyton nods before leading him into the living room. She sits down on the couch and is a bit surprised that Lucas sits down next to her almost touching her. "Lucas I know there are probably a lot of things that you want to talk about but please just let me say some things first?" Lucas just nods his head so she continues "I know that you still believe that I was lying and that I could remember this whole time, but honestly Luke I couldn't remember you; I didn't remember you." Tears well up in her eyes and that breaks his heart.

Haley walked into the grocery store grabbing a cart as she made her way to the dairy picking up eggs before looking at her list and ticking the object off. Looking at her list she went and grabbed the rest of the ingredients she would need for breakfast before making her way to the aisle that housed condoms. Glancing around she breathed a sign of relief she didn't see anyone she knew as she turned in the aisle. Bypassing the condoms she made her way to the pregnancy tests. Her stomach knotted as she looked at all the different tests. She knew she was late, but they had always been so safe. She was on birth control and they tried to use condoms most of the time just because she knew of the damn Scott sperm. Taking a deep breath she picked one up and looked at the box before grabbing another one and comparing them.

Haley bit her lip as she tried to choose from the numerous tests. Finally grabbing a couple boxes she made her way to the check out. What would happen if she was pregnant. Would Nathan be okay with it? What would the public think if Haley James was pregnant. No one knew she was married...not even her friends. In reality most of the public thought there was something between Haley and Jake no matter how much they denied it and told the press they were just friends.

"Peyton!" he begins, but she stops him "No Luke please let me finish. I was so confused when I first woke up I couldn't remember even being pregnant let alone who I was pregnant by. At first when I saw Nathan there I thought that the baby was his but then he told me that wasn't true." she can see the look in his eyes and she knows that he's wanting to blame his brother for everything.

"Luke please don't blame Nathan, he wanted to bring me home as soon as I was awake but then he realized that the last thing I remembered was that I was his girlfriend. I begged him not to contact anyone until I could remember everything. I didn't want to bring anymore pain to anyone else. In my mind I didn't know you. I'm so very sorry Luke." she says as the tears spill out onto her cheeks falling down all around her.

Haley's mind ran through all the possible outcomes. _What if I'm not pregnant? _She thought a small pang piercing her heart. Part of her wanted a baby. She wanted someone to take care of. A baby that was part Haley and part Nathan to show what their love could do. Another part knew that they weren't ready to have a child. _I guess I have to just wait until I get home _she added paying for her merchandise and feeling the test weighing on her. She knew she wasn't going to tell Nathan until after she took the test. Part of her wished she would so she had someone to hold her hand, but she pushed it away she was stronger than that.

Without thinking Lucas quickly pulls Peyton into his arms and allows her to sob against his chest. He rubs her back gently "Shh Peyt it's ok; it's all going to be alright I promise. I'm here now and I don't plan on losing you or Sawyer ever again." the words come out of his mouth before he realizes what he has said.

Peyton looks up at him shock written on her face. Lucas looks down at her and in that moment before his brain can stop him he leans down and captures her lips with his kissing her for the first time in four years.

Haley drove home in a blur the test weighing her down as she tried to stay calm needing to know one way or another if she was pregnant.


End file.
